Our First Christmas
by bass0bassinum
Summary: *Follow up to For the Longest Time* It's Christmas time atop Mt. Silver and with this being Leaf's first, Red wants to make it the best Christmas possible. However, with no idea what kind of gift to get and having to deal with certain psychic Pokemon tagging along, providing the perfect Christmas may prove be more difficult than he originally thought. Burnleafshipping/Luckyshipping
1. Getting into the Christmas Spirit

**Greetings ladies and gentleman! I know….in my last story I said I was retiring from writing, but I've had this idea for a Christmas fic floating in my head for a while now and it just had to be written.**

 **Now, in case anyone's wondering why this is being posted nowhere near Christmas time….the answer's at the end of the chapter.**

 **Also, it should be noted that this is indeed another follow up to For The Longest Time and while I don't believe it's necessary to read that story to understand this one (Unless you want to see how all these characters got together), there are certain events/inside jokes that will make more sense if you have checked out the original story first.**

 **That being said…..hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Getting Into the Christmas Spirit

To those who lived atop the mountainous region known as Mt. Silver, the sight of newly fallen snow was no rare occurrence. In fact, many would argue that the mountain received more snow than any other area in both Kanto and Johto combined.

However, despite the mountain's snowy atmosphere, things were somewhat….different as of late.

Not only because the winter season had brought with it much cooler and crisper conditions, but also a certain….vibe had manifested….one that only this time of the year could bring about.

…and nowhere was that more prevalent, then the sole house that sat upon its summit.

For you see, it was nearing the end of the year and all that resided in said house were currently hard at work preparing for what many considered to be the most joyous time of the year: Christmas Day.

* * *

"Easy Jigglypuff…easy….." the shaky voice of certain red capped young man stammered as he balanced both standing atop a ladder on his tippy-toes and holding the pink Pokemon high above his head.

Dressed in a much bulkier jacket than his usual vest, Red watched as Jigglypuff reached out with its stubby arms and with all its strength, somehow managed to string up the strand of Christmas lights it had been holding onto.

"Jiggly! Jiggly!" it proudly called down causing the red-capped young man to smile in return.

Truth be told, Christmas was always a time that Red looked forward to every year. However, after his mom had passed away and he became a full-time trainer, the constant traveling from region to region made it so that he never really had the chance to enjoy the holiday for what it was.

But now things were different.

No more was his mind clouded by his past and obsession for battles. He had moved on and wanted nothing more than to make this best Christmas he could. Not only because this be would be his first Christmas at the new house, but also because he would be sharing it with a very special someone that he truly wanted to make happy.

"Awesome! That's one string of lights up!" he happily stated before the two slowly panned their heads towards the rest of the house, "…..and only a hundred million more to go…."

"Jigglypuff….."

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Red sighed as he slowly began descending down the ladder.

Originally, his plans for today were supposed to involve him going out into the nearby forest and picking out the perfect Christmas tree. However, just as he was about to leave, his "special someone" decreed that only "The Great Shadow Thief" was worthy of finding the perfect tree and hastily took Pikachu and Venasaur into the woods with her, leaving Red and the other Pokemon behind to decorate the house.

At first, it seemed like a great idea, but all too soon it was becoming apparent just how daunting of a task decorating actually was.

"Man….I'm sweating already." Red panted as looked up at the house, " _If only there was an easier way to do this…._ "

As if his thoughts were being read, a loud booming voice suddenly called out from behind him.

"Blast!"

Quickly turning around, Red saw his Blastoise standing there with a confident grin on its face.

"What's up Blastoise?" he asked as the giant turtle pokemon leaned forward, extending one of its cannons up to Red's face.

"Blast! Blast!" it said, pointing its finger toward the cannon.

It took a minute for Red to decipher what his pokemon was trying to tell him before finally cluing in. "Are you saying to load the lights into your cannons?" he wondered as Blastoise nodded in response.

A bit taken aback by the idea, Red turned to Jigglypuff and the two exchanged puzzled looks before finally turning back and shrugging in response.

"Hey! It's worth a shot!"

With no better option to consider, the three proceeded to load string after string of lights into Blastoise's cannons and within a few minutes they were all set to go.

Though admittedly hesitate to do so, Red took a deep breath as he prepared to give the order. This plan was ridiculously unorthodox and he was still uncertain whether it was going to work or not.

"Okay….Ready….Aim….." then with a point of his finger he yelled at the top of his lungs, "HYRDO CANNON!"

Like bullets firing rapidly from a machine gun, the lights expelled from the cannons one after another at a breakneck speed causing both Red and Jigglypuff to cover their eyes in response.

Fearing the worst from their outlandish plan, the two slowly removed their hands once the noise had stopped, only to reveal every light having hit their mark, stringing perfectly along the top frame of the house.

Overjoyed, Red immediately turned to the giant pokemon with his hand extended. "Perfect shot as always Blastoise!" he praised as the two high-fived one another.

That accomplished, the red-capped boy decided to take a minute to observe what everyone else was up to.

Overhead, Charizard, Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno were flying to and from the house, laying a string of lights down on the roof with every pass they made.

As for Snorlax, Clefable, and Lapras, they were all busy placing ornaments around the yard, making everything look more and more ready for the holiday season.

"Looking great guys! You're all doing an awesome job!" Red called out to them before turning to Jigglypuff and noting, "Now all we have to do is wait for Leaf to return with the Christmas tree and we're all-"

"Pika! Pika!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Red turned to see his yellow partner running towards him at full speed.

"Pikachu! You're back!" he happily stated as it leapt into his arms, "Where's Leaf and-"

"Pika!" Pikachu quickly extended its arm in the direction of the nearby forest and upon following its stubby little finger; Red quickly saw what it was pointing at.

From the forest she emerged wearing her bright blue jacket and red scarf. But, by far, the more noticeable thing was what was being dragged behind her.

"Hey Red! We got it!" Leaf happily called out as Venasaur slowly lumbered behind her, its vines wrapped around what had to be the biggest tree he'd ever seen.

Slowly but surely, they drudged the massive tree all the way up to the house with Red and the other pokemon collectively gasping as it was plopped right in front of them.

The thing had to have been at least 10 feet tall and Leaf was completely ecstatic as she watched Red stand there with his mouth agape.

"It's huge…." he finally uttered.

"Yeah it's beautiful ain't it?" Leaf happily replied while slapping him on the back, "Where do we put it?"

Red took a minute to glance over at the other pokemon, each giving him the same confused look he had, before finally turning back to Leaf and dully replying.

"…..back in the forest where you found it."

Clearly not being the response she'd expected, Leaf immediately recoiled in shock. "Wha-Why can't we decorate it?!" she hastily argued, "I told you I'd find the perfect tree and here it is!"

"Leaf….I want you to do me a favor." Red calmly replied while slowly putting his arm around her, "I want you to look at OUR house and tell me how you're ever going to fit that tree in there?"

Red watched as Leaf slowly looked towards the tree, then panned up to the house and went silent. Clearly, thought of bringing the tree into the house had not crossed her mind when cutting it down and now faced with an explanation for her actions, simply stammered the first words that came to her mind.

"…..on…..an…..angle?"

Red chuckled. Never in a million years would Leaf ever admit that he was right but her nervously shifting eyes were definitely saying otherwise. A 10 foot tree was definitely not going to fit into the house, but he also wasn't about to deny Leaf's choice. She clearly loved this tree and Red didn't want all of her hard work go to waste….so…..

"Tell you what, let's compromise!" he offered as he suddenly called out to his yellow partner, "Pikachu! Iron tail that tree in half!"

Pikachu happily obliged and quickly leapt into the air, crashing down on the tree with its silver glowing tail and slicing it into two pieces.

"See? Now it fits AND we have more firewood to boot!"

Very proud of his quick thinking, Red happily patted her shoulder, but all too soon his excitement faded as Leaf silently turned and gave him the deadliest glare he had ever seen.

It didn't take long for Red to quickly realized his folly: he had just sliced Leaf's perfect tree in half and didn't even ask for her permission. Immediately, sweat began running down his brow. He'd experienced the wrath of the Great Shadow Thief before and winced as he mentally prepared for the inevitable verbal lashing he was about to receive….but it never came.

Maybe it was because she'd finally realized that he was right all along or maybe it was just in the spirit of the holiday, but Leaf's scow had suddenly turned into a huge grin.

"Well look at you being resourceful!" the brunette haired girl teasingly remarked, pinching his cheek before calling out to the other pokemon, "Come on everyone! Let's haul this tree in!"

Red stood there, frozen like a statue. " _D-did…..did I just get away with murder?_ " he bafflingly thought as he watched Leaf walk over to assist the others with carrying the tree inside.

Was she actually mad with him? Leaf was always a hard read when it came to her emotions.

However, whatever fear Red had was soon dashed as in true Leaf fashion, she suddenly turned and winked letting him know that everything was okay.

" _Man…..Christmas is awesome!_ "

* * *

Working together, the gang carefully managed to fit the tree through the door and using Venasaur's vines as an anchor, managed to securely fasten the tree against the floor, propping it upright.

That accomplished, Pikachu and Jigglypuff wasted no time in making a b-line to another room and strolling out with a huge box of ornaments in tow.

They then placed the box on the ground and everyone quickly rushed towards it, ecstatically putting every ornament on the tree that they could…..everyone except Red that was.

Instead, the dark-haired young man stood in the corner of the living room, curiously stroking his chin in thought.

See, one of the keepsakes Red took after his mother passed away, was her box of ornaments. The idea being, that if he were to ever have a Christmas of his own, Red would have something to both decorate the tree and also remind him of his youth.

The bizarre part of all this was that, for the life of him, he did not recall taking as many ornaments as were brought out.

" _Maybe I just forgot there was so many…._ " he finally concluded to himself. After all, it had been such a long since he'd last fully celebrated the holiday.

"Hey Red!" Leaf's voice suddenly rang out, "Stop sulking and come join us!"

"Coming!" he happily replied, rushing over to join in the festivities.

* * *

An unprecedented amount of time passed as ornaments were put up, put back, redirected before finally, it was time for the most important decoration of all: the star.

"Woah….woah….hold me steady Snorlax!" Red shakenly called out to the giant pokemon as he leaned forward on the ladder he was standing on.

"Snor…." Snorlax replied, grasping onto the ladder with its stubby hands.

On the floor, Leaf watched as Red reached forward and managed to fit the star on the top of the tree. "Okay a little to the right Red!" she called out, holding her hands over her face like a frame, "Now a little to the left!"

Red did as he was told before noticing that the ladder was becoming increasingly unstable.

He quickly looked down to see that Snorlax was starting to yawn and scratch its belly, signaling it was about to fall asleep.

"Leaf would you hurry up and make up your mind as to where you want this star?!" he yelled out, but she wasn't paying attention.

"Hang on….hang on…." she muttered under her breath before suddenly thrusting her finger into the air, "Perfect! Right there!"

Immediately, Red let go of the star. "Yes!" he cheered, but his celebrations were cut short as in that moment, Snorlax succumbed to its sleepiness and loosened its grip on the ladder to rub it's eyes.

Feeling that something was off, Red quickly called down to his pokemon. "Snorlax! SNOR-" his calls were in vain and after wobbling uncontrollably, Red lost his balance. "Woah…..woah…..WOAH!"

Down came the ladder, crashing onto the floor (thankfully away from the tree).

"RED!" Leaf and the other pokemon screamed as the red-capped young man felt himself free falling towards the ground, closing his eyes as he awaited the inevitable pain that would follow.

…but it never happened.

Quickly opening his eyes, Red saw that his whole body was wrapped in vines, suspending him just inches off the ground.

"SAUR!" Venasaur roared out as it braced him against its vines and slowly lowered him to the ground.

Panting as he rose to his feet, Red instantly made his way over to the grass pokemon. "Thanks Venasaur…." he sighed in relief, giving the grass pokemon a well-deserved scratch on the head for its quick thinking.

"Saur…."

"Red! Are you okay?" Leaf yelled in concern as she and the other pokemon came running over.

"Yeah….yeah I think I'm okay…" Red panted, still a bit taken back after what just happened. "But please don't ever ask me to move a star ever again!"

Everyone chuckled at Red's misfortune. After all their hard work, the house was finally decorated and the tree was finally up; it was now time to see the fruits if their labor. "Zapdos, Pikachu." Red called out to the two electrical pokemon present, "You guys want to do the honors?"

The two happily nodded in agreement and quick as they could, rushed over to the main generation.

Climbing up onto Zapdos's back, Pikachu summoned a huge thunderbolt which charged the legendary bird with a huge amount of electricity.

Then, adding its own power to the mix, Zapdos simply leaned forward and upon touching its bill to the generator, transferred all their power to it, resulting in something truly spectacular.

Shocks traveled down every wire that was attached, illuminating every light around the house one by one.

Inside, everyone watched as a small spark traveled along the main wire towards the Christmas tree and upon reaching its destination, caused a sea of colors to radiate forth. Soon, that corner of the house was awash with the pleasant glow of blues, reds, greens, oranges and whites and as the final bits of the spark reached the top, it caused a small sparkle to shine atop the star.

" _Nice touch._ " Red cheekily noted.

Everyone was completely awestruck by the sight in front of them and for good reason. For Red's pokemon, it had been a very long time since they had even seen a Christmas tree, let alone, put up one and for Leaf's pokemon, this was the first one they'd ever experienced.

However, no one was more awestruck then Leaf herself. For years she could only dream of what having a Christmas tree would be like and now it was right here…..in front of her.

Her eyes sparkled, not able to take them off it for a second; afraid that maybe she really was dreaming and didn't want it to end.

"Oh wow…." Red saw her mouth in awe and couldn't help but smile with content.

"So….what do you think Leaf?" he asked as he gently placed his arm around her.

Leaf slowly turned towards him, her eyes watering from just how exciting this all was. "Red…its….its…." she opened her mouth, trying again and again to find the words to say until finally proclaiming, "It's a Christmas Card!" she exclaimed before lunging towards Red and hugging him tight.

It was done. After all the hard work that preceded it, seeing the Christmas tree glowing so majestically was almost….magical and upon seeing just how happy Leaf was, Red sighed with content as she held onto him for what seemed like an eternity.

* * *

Everyone was having a great time and after admiring the Christmas tree for some time, it was decided that they would all take a little break before continuing on.

As such, all the pokemon went to lie down as Red and Leaf sat down on a nearby couch, basking in the glow of the Christmas tree as it shone forth.

"Oh Red! That was so much fun!" Leaf exclaimed as she patted Red's hand in excitement, "But we still have so much to do!"

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like what?!" she bafflingly replied before intensely beginning to count on her hand, "There's presents to wrap, dinner to prepare and most important of all-"

*DING*

"My cookies are ready!"

Like a stampeding Dodrio, Leaf flew out of the room as fast as she could, leaving Red sitting there with an amused look on his face. He had seen Leaf excited before but never to the extent that she was right now and it didn't take very much reflection to deduce why that was.

For years, the girl had lived a lifestyle Red would never wish upon anyone; wandering the streets no doubt seeing how happy this time of the year made people, yet never being able to experience it for herself.

It was for that reason why Red was willing to go above and beyond for her. He wanted to make this the very best Christmas Leaf had ever experienced and so far….everything seemed to be going well.

"Sure looks like she's having a good time huh Jigglypuff?" Red noted as glanced over to Leaf's pink partner who was lying beside him and gently scratched its head.

The balloon pokemon smiled as it looked up at the red-capped boy. Seeing the look of genuine happiness on its trainer's face after all the years of spending Christmas cold and alone on the streets of Kanto, warmed its heart in ways that words could not describe.

"Jiggly!" it happily replied before making a little gesture towards Red.

"Yeah I'm having a good time too," he noted, sighing as he slumped back into the couch, overlooking everyone sleeping peacefully.

His eyes slowly panned from one end of the room to the other, until suddenly fixating on something: a tiny picture that was perched atop the fireplace.

"Hmm?"

Leaving Jigglypuff to close its eyes for a bit, Red slowly made his way over to the picture in question. It was a framed photo of a much younger him at the laboratory in Pallet town flanked by his mom and three other people.

People that, the more he stared at the photo, the more he began to think about and seeing that everything had died down, Red decided to reach into his pocket to pull out his holocaster.

No matter the circumstances, this was the time of year he missed them the most and right now, more than anything, he wanted to see them.

* * *

"Wow! It looks beautiful Red!" the hologram of a girl in an orange shirt praised as she laid eyes on his immaculately decorated house, "Your decorating skills have definitely come a long way since the last Christmas we spent in Pallet."

"Oh, c-come on Daisy." Red bashfully replied, "It'll never match up to the decorating job you used to do at the lab."

The two shared a quick laugh before Red curiously began to peer around.

"Where's your brother at?"

Daisy glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, he's-"

"If you think I'm going to wish you a Merry Christmas Red, you've got another thing coming!"

A deadpanned look fell on Red's face as he heard the familiar voice. "Uh-huh….just get over here and see my Christmas tree Blue!"

"Hang on! I'm just entertaining our guest!"

Red raised an eyebrow. "Guest?"

Just then, another apparition suddenly appeared on the holocaster. An apparition that, even though he wasn't wearing his signature lab coat, Red instantly knew who it was.

"Professor Oak?"

"Hi Red!"

"What you doing there?"

With a huge smile on his face, Professor Oak threw his arm around Daisy. "Oh I was invited to come!" he excitedly exclaimed before glancing towards where Blue was presumably standing, "Apparently my grandson missed me so much that he flew over an hour from Kalos to come get me."

"Did he now?" Red mused, trying so hard not to laugh at Blue's misfortune, "Well that was very sweet of hi-"

"Okay! Okay! That's enough gramps!" Blue's voice quickly rang out and before long the spiky-haired individual finally made his appearance, scowling as his faint apparition appeared before Red, "What are you laughing at?!"

"Nothing…"Red sighed as stared longingly at the three of them.

"What is it Red?" Professor Oak asked, noticing the somewhat sad expression forming on Red's face and watched as he grabbed the framed picture off the nearby fireplace.

"Just….seeing you all together reminds me of all the Christmas's we spent at the lab after mom passed away." Red noted as he held the picture up to them, "Remember?"

Silence fell as the three Oaks simultaneously stared at the picture. It was true, after Red's mom passed away the boy essentially became an unofficial member of the family and the four experienced many fond memories before Red decided to go his separate ways.

"Those were definitely some good times weren't they…." Professor Oak noted before glancing down at the ground. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he really missed those days.

"A-Alright! Enough of this sappiness!" Blue finally blurted out, breaking the silence as he wiped some stray tears from his eyes, "Red will you hurry up and show us this stupid tree already!"

"R-right!"

Picking up the holocaster off the ground, Red turned it so that everyone could see. "There it is!" he happily revealed.

"Wow Red! It looks amazing! Good job!" Professor Oak praised as the tree came into view.

Bashful, Red scratched the back of his head. "W-well it was a team effort." he stammered before turning to his spiky-haired friend, "Oh, by the way Blue….you were right."

"About what?"

About putting the star on at the end." Red reluctantly admitted, "I….almost killed myself trying to put it on."

Blue shook his head, remembering all the times the two had argued about this subject in the past. "I told you Red, if you put the stupid star on first then it's much less of a hassle!" he exclaimed as Red rolled his eyes in response.

"Y-yeah but." he stammered, desperately trying to prove his point, "It just wouldn't be Christmas if we put the star on first!"

"You and your traditions!"

Everyone laughed and spent the next few minutes doing a bit more reminiscing before deciding to say their goodbyes. One by one, everyone's apparitions disappeared, however, just as Red was about to bend down to turn the holocaster off…

"Hold on!" Blue's voice suddenly rang out as his image once again appeared before Red, "Let me take another look at that tree!"

Shocked by Blue's surprise appearance, Red scrambled to do as he was ordered.

"W-what's up?"

The spiky haired individual narrowed his eyes as he scanned the Christmas tree over. "That ornament you have over there!" he pointed out, "It looks exactly like one of the ones we have!"

"Huh?"

"So does that one over there!"

Red could feel his heart beat faster and faster as Blue pointed out ornament after ornament. He knew something was off before and this just confirmed his suspicions.

"What do you have to say for yourself Red?!"

His eyes darting a mile a minute, Red panicked. He needed a plan to get out of this and he needed it fast.

"U-Uhh…."

Without thinking, he quickly grabbed the holocaster and began shaking it violently.

"Sorry Blue! I'm losing the connection! You're breaking up!" he shouted while Blue's image became distorted from all the shaking, "I'll call you later!"

Wasting no time, he hastily pressed the off button and panted for a few seconds before shouting at the top of his lungs.

"OH LEAF!"

Red figured she must have heard their conversation as she slowly but surely poked her head out from the kitchen with the biggest "Did I do that?" look on her face.

"Y-yes, sweetie? What is it?" she meekly asked as she walked into the living room bearing a tray full of cookies.

"You wouldn't….happen to know where some of these ornaments came from…..do you?"

Putting down her tray of cookies, Leaf pursed her lip. "Wellllllllllllll….remember last time we went to Blue's place…." she coyly asked while sarcastically rolled her eyes upwards, "Did….did you ever wonder why your bag was….suddenly a lot heavier after we left?"

Red's eyes widened. "You don't mean?!"

Leaf nodded.

"So that jingling sound I was heard was actually-"

Leaf nodded again.

His eyes wider than ever, Red stumbled back into a nearby chair as guilt suddenly overcame him, "So….I was an assistant to theft…." he muttered while burying his face into his hands.

Amused by his over the top reaction, Leaf walked over and gave him a little pat on the shoulder before raising her hand in the air and extravagantly noting. "Actually Red, I think the term you're searching for is **Unknowing Accomplice to the Great Shadow Thief**." she teasingly corrected.

"LEAF!"

"Oh come on Red! You said we didn't have that many ornaments!" she moaned as she walked over to the ornaments in question and extended her arms, "They….they look beautiful don't they?"

"W-well….y-yes! But-"

"You'll forgive me little old me for borrowing these ornaments without asking? Won't you…"

Red watched as Leaf sadly glanced down at the ground and began slowly rubbing her shoulder with her hand.

She was doing it. Every time something like this happened, Leaf would put on this innocent act for him, knowing how guilty it made him feel.

"Oh….don't….you…..do….this…..to…..me….."

"I know I've been a very bad girl…." the brunette haired girl pouted as she slowly walked over to Red and sat on his lap, "Can you ever….forgive me?"

"I…I…."

Red couldn't take it anymore. Between those big puppy dog eyes she was giving him right now and how cute she sounded, he wound up caving to her immediately.

"DAWW! OKAY! I FORGIVE YOU!"

"YAY!" she cheered before smothering him in a huge hug.

"J-just….can you please try not to do that anymore."

Placing her finger at the corner of her mouth, Leaf spent all of 2 seconds considering what Red asked before giving a quick wink and proclaiming.

"No promises!"

With a deadpan look plastered on his face from her response, Red blushed as Leaf teasingly gave him a quick kiss him on the cheek and sprung off his lap to grab her tray of cookies.

Earlier in the day, Leaf had expressed interest in baking Christmas cookies and remembering just how amazing the gingerbread cookies his mom used to make were, Red decided to give the brunette haired girl the recipe and see just how well she could replicate them.

On the flip side, knowing just how excited the prospect of Christmas cookies was to Red, Leaf had spent a good portion of the day baking and perfecting the recipe as best she could. Now the fruits of her labor were here for all to see and everyone quickly gathered around to sample for themselves.

"So….what do you think?"

Red's face beamed. For someone who had never made cookies before, she sure did an amazing job. "They look delicious!" he praised as he leaned over and slightly began extending his hand, "Mmm…and they smell so goo-"

*SLAP*

Without warning, a sudden sharp pain shot through Red's hand causing him to immediately recoil. "H-hey!" he shouted as Leaf began wagging her finger at him.

"Atttata! The Pokemon get first dibs mister!"

All the Pokemon proceeded to give Red a sassy look as he watched Leaf reach into the tray and begin handing out cookie after cookie to each of them.

" _What kind of favoritism is this….."_ the red-capped boy pouted in his mind before suddenly feeling something crawl up his shoulder.

"Pika!" Pikachu happily called out as it began chomping down on its treat just mere inches from Red's face.

"Uh-huh….rub it in why don't you Pikachu…." he grumbled before realizing that something had landed on his other shoulder.

"Jiggly!" Jigglypuff chimed in as well after taking a huge bite of its cookie causing Red to narrow his eyes.

"…..same goes for you."

* * *

For Leaf, the next few minutes were spent passing out her cookies, hand-feeding the select pokemon who unfortunately didn't have any hands to grab them with.

It took some time, but eventually everyone got their treat and the general consensus seemed to be unanimous: the cookies were a huge hit.

"Okay, has everyone had their cookie?" Leaf asked as all the Pokemon all roared in response.

"Hee! Hee!" she giggled, finally turning to Red, "Okay Mr. EX Champion! I think you've waited long enough!"

The red-capped boy stood there with his hat tipped over his eyes as she walked towards him with cookie in hand. "Okay! Open up!" she announced as she held the treat up to Red's mouth.

However, instead of welcoming it, Red simply shook his head. "As much as I'd like it to be my turn Leaf…..there's someone you're forgetting." he cryptically stated.

Pausing to ponder what Red was talking about, Leaf scratched her head. "Someone I'm forgetting….." she confusingly replied, "Who could I have forg-THAT'S RIGHT!"

Like a lightbulb went off in her head, Leaf finally realized who Red was talking about. Though, to be honest, it was no surprise why she'd forgotten about this particular pokemon considering that, since the day it began living with them, it rarely showed its face.

Never the less, it was their pokemon and deserved to be part of this just as much as the others.

"Where is he?" Leaf asked as Red shot a glance down the hallway and sighing deeply, replied with.

"…..same place he's been for the past few days now."

* * *

The Pokemon in question resided in the furthest room of the house. Being relatively new to the team, it was still trying to find its place amongst the others and with the title of Ultimate Lifeform, Red and Leaf knew they had a challenge on their hands when they agreed to take him in.

Inside the darkly lit room he sat, floating inches off the floor, his pure white body motionless as he honed the psychic aura around him.

Although this setting was quite different from the cave it was used to, it was good enough to allow him to sharpen his skills.

The silence was golden; everything was in perfect harmony until…

"Mewtwo! It's me!" a cheery voice suddenly rang out accompanied by the sound of the door opening.

Frustrated that its peace had been disturbed, the psychic Pokemon sighed, knowing full well who that voice belonged to. " _…..what is it young lady?"_ it telepathically spoke in Leaf's mind.

"Why are you sulking in this dark room?" she asked while setting her tray down on a nearby table.

Without even turning its head, it spoke again. " _I'm not sulking….I'm mediating…._ " it calmly attempted to explain, " _It keeps my mind sharp._ "

Becoming increasingly frustrated herself, Leaf crossed her arms. "Hmph! I think your 3000 IQ can afford to take some time off." she sarcastically replied as she took her tray and attempted to present it right in front of Mewtwo's face, "You really should come join the fun! See I baked cookies!"

Mewtwo didn't even bother to open its eyes. " _….your human food does not interest me."_ it dully replied, _"….nor do I care for your human holiday…..now please leave me inMMMMPH!_ "

With their conversation going nowhere, Leaf took matters into her own hands and cheekily shoved a cookie into Mewtwo's mouth. "Oh stop your griping and have a cookie!" she exclaimed, watching with delight as her actions caused the psychic Pokemon to lose its focus and come crashing to the ground.

Realizing that her life was probably in imminent danger from the deathly glare it gave her, Leaf quickly sprinted to the door, but not before turning to the psychic Pokemon and with her finger wagging proclaimed. "Mewtwo, you may be the Ultimate Lifeform, but there's something you need to realize."

" _What's that?!_ "

"…..The Great Shadow Thief always gets what she wants!"

With that, she quickly made her exit. However, Leaf would only walk a few steps before stopping to sigh with disappointment.

Truth be told, this wasn't the first time she'd attempted to get Mewtwo to come out of its shell, but just like all the other times, it refused to budge.

"I'm not giving up on you yet!" she declared as she made her way down the hallway.

* * *

" _Ughh….confound that girl….._ " Mewtwo grumbled as it rose to its feet, accidentally crunching down on the cookie in its mouth in the process.

Without warning, the psychic Pokemon's eyes widened as the sweet taste tickled its taste buds, quickly narrowing them as it stared at the other half of the tasty treat. _"…and curse this blasted human food for being as good as it is!_ "

* * *

Back in the living room, with a few minutes free from Leaf's presence, Red had taken the time to pull out a huge catalogue and was rapidly scanning through every page as fast as he could.

"Pika! Pi!" Pikachu called out as it pointed towards a picture of a fancy looking necklace.

"No….no….that's too tacky…" Red mumbled as he flipped page after page before finally snapping the catalogue shut in frustration.

"I just don't know Pikachu…." he disappointingly sighed while staring skyward, "How is it that it's Christmas Eve and I still haven't figured out what kind of present to get L-"

"Red!"

"AHH!" he screamed upon suddenly hearing her voice, scrambling to hide the catalogue behind his back.

"Oh h-hey Leaf!" he stammered as she came walking up to him, teasingly leaning forward with a curious look on her face.

"Whatcha reading?"

"Uhh….n-nothing!" he quickly replied, burying the catalogue as far between the couch cushions as he could before quickly standing up. "P-pikachu and I were actually about to head out to get the Farfetched for dinner tomorrow."

Leaf curiously tapped her finger against the side of her face. It was clear that Red was trying to change the subject and even though she had a pretty good idea what he was doing, she wasn't about to pry. "Oh that's right!" she happily replied, remembering that she had requested him to do so earlier, "Make sure you get a big one!"

She then watched as Red slowly glanced towards the ground. "H-hey…." he hesitantly spoke, "Are you sure you don't want any help with the cooking?"

Leaf giggled, sighing deeply as she put her arm around him. "Well….no offense Red, but I don't feel like cold cereal and toast is very sufficient for Christmas dinner." she teased causing Red to roll his eyes.

"Yeah….yeah….yeah…." he grumbled, "Just how did you become such a good cook anyway?"

"Sweetie when you live on the streets as long as I have…you find ways to make things taste good!"

* * *

Leaving Red to ponder just what exactly she meant by that, he and Leaf bid one another goodbye and made his way to the front of the house to grab his jacket. A very good butcher resided at the local mall at the foot of Mt. Silver and Red couldn't be more ecstatic as this allowed him some much needed time to look for Leaf's present.

With his jacket firmly zipped up and Pikachu perched atop his shoulder, Red grabbed the doorknob, ready to leave the house when suddenly….

"Wait! WAIT!" he heard Leaf frantically call out, panting heavily as she ran up to him.

"What's up Leaf?"

"Before….you….go…." she raised the last cookie high in the air and winked at him, "I think you've waited long enough!"

Red's face immediately lit up. "Finally!" he happily exclaimed, being so preoccupied with the idea of getting Leaf's present that he'd completely forgot.

She then handed him the cookie, of which Red could have sworn was more decorated than the others and held it up to his face.

Leaf had spent the entire day perfecting these, but would they really compare to the ones his mother used to make? Well…..he was about to find out as he excitedly took his first bite.

In that moment, a huge rush of nostalgia came over Red as the warm, chewy sensation of ginger and sweetness touched his pallet. It was like he was a little kid, getting to experience that sweet taste that would only happen once every year and Leaf watched with content as he quickly took bite after bite.

"….so?"

"Mmmm! Leaf! That was so good!" Red happily praised before shyly glancing away, "…..but not exactly as mom used to make."

"But I followed-"

Leaf stopped as he quickly held out his hand. "Leaf you have to understand, no matter how hard you try to replicate something, you'll always end up putting your own spin on it." he wisely explained, "….and even though they weren't exactly like moms, I thought that little spin you put on was amazing!"

Leaf blushed immensely. Even when he was critiquing her, that man always had a way with words. "Oh Red…." she sighed before lunging forward and kissing him on the lips, getting to experience the taste of the cookie herself, "Thanks, I'm glad you liked it…."

She bashfully glanced away from him, but Red could tell something wasn't right, her eyes…..something was off.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about Mewtwo…." Leaf sighed as she turned her head toward the hallway.

"….I take it your cookies didn't go over well….."

Leaf slowly nodded in response. "…..I think I was a little more forceful than I should have been…." she reluctantly admitted, remembering just how upset Mewtwo looked when she broke its concentration, "It's just…we're it's co-trainers and yet, it doesn't feel like we've grown any closer since the day it began living with us."

"Leaf…."

"I really thought that celebrating the holiday with us would help Mewtwo open up, but no matter what I say, it just won't budge and…..I was wondering that….maybe…you….could-"

"May I go talk to it?" Red concluded before Leaf could even ask.

Nervously shifting her eyes, the brunette haired girl gave him a small shrug. "Y-yeah…." she meekly replied, "As much as I hate to admit it, you're much better at this pep-talk thing than I am."

Red sighed, he could definitely tell that Leaf's intentions were genuine and truth be told, he also wished for the psychic Pokemon to open up more. After all, it was because of Red's actions that Mewtwo was even living with them in the first place.

...however…..

"Listen Leaf, I think you wanting to help Mewtwo is a noble cause….but I can also understand why it wants to be alone." he calmly stated while tipping his hat over his eyes, "I know because there was once a time in my life where after a traumatic experience I needed to be alone to sort out my problems…."

He watched as Leaf took a minute to consider his words before turning to him and with a confident look on her face, quickly countered with. "Yes Red, but in the end, what was it that truly helped you get over your traumatic experience?"

She then flashed him that cocky grin he'd come to know so well and chuckled. Whenever it appeared, it meant that Leaf was in full control of the situation and right now it was no different.

Did being alone help Red get over the loss of his mother?

…..for a time he truly believed that it did. However, in the end, being alone was not the true reason why he was able to move on.

The real reason…..was something that he never anticipated happening…..something that Leaf desperately wanted to hear come out of his mouth and now that the thought was in his head, he couldn't help but admit to it.

"…..it was being with you."

His words caused Leaf to grin from ear to ear before lunging forward and hugging him tightly. This was it, this was the real reason why he was able to move on with his life, to put the past behind him, but how could he replicate this with Mewtwo?

Tightening his grip around Leaf's waist, Red closed his eyes in thought. Just like what she'd done with him, Red would have to find some way to bring Mewtwo out of its comfort zone, but how could he do that?

Then….like a light bulb went off in his head, it all came to him. "Hey….I think I might have an idea!" Red proudly proclaimed as he released Leaf from his grip.

Before the brunette haired even knew what was happening, Red suddenly leaned over and whispered his idea in her ear, prompting her to confusingly look over at him.

"You really think it's going to go for that?"

Red shrugged. "It might if I ask."

Leaf rolled her eyes back and forth. Red's plan was good, but it needed a little extra….spice to insure that Mewtwo would actually go through with it.

"Just to make sure this really works we should…."

Leaning towards Red's ear, Leaf whispered her plan right back at him, now causing him to look confused at her.

"….what do you think?" she wondered as Red raised his eyebrows at her.

"….I think you're pure evil."

"Hee! Hee!" she giggled before throwing her arm around him and teasingly whispering, "Well! There's a special cookie in it for you if you can pull it off Reddy!"

Blushing as she kissed his cheek, Red chuckled as well. There was no guarantee this was going to work, but, one thing was for sure, he was going to give it his best. "Alright! Alright! Let's see what I can do!" he exclaimed as he and Pikachu began making their way down the hallway.

* * *

Back in the darkly lit room at the far end of the house, Mewtwo had finally resumed its meditation pose after its unceremonious interruption.

" _What's wrong with these humans?_ " it bafflingly thought to itself, " _Can't they see that I just want to be alo-_ "

Sensing a presence coming towards it, Mewtwo stopped as it heard the door slowly creak open.

"Hey Mewtw-"

" _Young man! If you've come to offer me more of those cookies, there WILL be hell to pay!_ "

Pausing as those words were viciously yelled into his mind, Red sighed as he walked into the room. "…don't worry, that's not why I came Mewtwo." he calmly explained, wondering just what Leaf had done to the poor thing to make it so mad.

" _…..then why do you disturb me_?"

Taking a deep breath, Red prepared to present his idea. "Well, Pikachu and I were just about to go down to the mall at the base of Mt Silver." he noted while happily looking over at his yellow partner, "….and we were wondering if you'd like to come with us?"

There was no response and before long, an uncomfortable silence filled the room as Red patiently awaited Mewtwo's response.

"… _..accompany you to a place full of humans?_ " it finally spoke up without even looking at him.

"That's right. I think it would be good for you."

Another bout of silence followed. Was Mewtwo actually considering his offer? Red awaited its response with anticipation.

" _Is….my plan actually going to work?_ " he thought as Mewtwo slowly turned its head towards him and with one eye open responded with

" _The answer's no._ "

"Pika…." Pikachu disappointingly groaned as Red let out a deep sigh.

"Okay….just thought I'd ask…." he stated as turned to leave the room, "….sorry to disturb you."

Returning to its original position, Mewtwo once again closed its eyes, listening to the fading sound of Red's footsteps as he walked out the door.

However, much to the psychic Pokemon's surprise, the sound of Red's footsteps suddenly ground to a complete halt and in their place came the sound of another set of footsteps approaching from the hall.

"Hey Red!" Mewtwo heard a familiar feminine voice call out.

"Hey Leaf!"

"Whattcha up to?"

"I was just asking Mewtwo if he wanted to come with us to mall, but he refused."

The psychic Pokemon froze as it sensed her gaze turn towards it.

"Mewtwo's staying here? That's great!" her cheery voice rang out causing the Mewtwo's eyes to suddenly shoot open as she suddenly exclaimed. "I found these really cute ribbons the other day and once I'm finished cooking we're going to try them on!"

With a chillingly innocent giggle, she happily skipped away, leaving Red standing there with a huge smile on his face.

Turning his head, Mewtwo was still facing away from him. However, its normally calm demeanor was shattered and Red confidently crossed his arms as he watched its right hand twitch uncontrollably.

"…meet me at the cab in 5 minutes?" he cheekily called out.

Clearly flustered, Mewtwo turned and prepared to exit the room. However, just as it was about to pass Red, it paused and glanced towards him.

"… _.if you value your life, you'll be there in 4 or less!_ "

With that threatening statement echoing throughout his head, Red froze, his hairs standing on end as Mewtwo floated past him.

This was definitely not going to be an easy task, but Red was definitely up for the challenge. No matter the hardships that he was no doubt about to endure, he was determined to see this plan of his through to the end and…who knows?

Maybe this could end up being the best Christmas ever.

* * *

 **….and that's the first chapter. Man does it feel good returning to form with this story! Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you; Mewtwo will indeed be playing a bigger role in this story. I'll be honest, it's the 3rd character I didn't know I wanted but, by god I'm happy I put it in and you'll see why!**

 **Now, as for how I plan to release chapters, the idea is that there's going to be 5 chapters and that I'll post a chapter every 2 weeks which will lead us right to Christmas Day. However, since this ended up getting finished a week earlier than I expected, two of the chapters (probably either the next one or the final one) will have a 3 week gap between them to keep on schedule.**

 **It should also be noted that this will probably be the longest chapter of the 5. Obviously that remains to be seen, but just from how I have everything organized, it doesn't look like any of the others will be surpassing this one in length.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, as always, feel free to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, I always look forward to them and….I'll see you in the next chapter!**

 **Ciao!**


	2. Holiday Hijinks

**Hey everyone, just wanted to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I had some personal stuff going on the past few weeks that made it hard for me to find time to write, but its all done now and I hope to be back on schedule for the next chapter.  
**

* * *

Chapter 2: Holiday Hijinks

"… _what an awful experience._ " the angered voice of Mewtwo rang throughout Red's mind as they finally arrived at their destination, " _I'll never traverse in one of these blasted human contraptions ever again!_ "

Closing his eyes in an attempt to maintain his composure, Red took a deep breath as he watched the Psychic Pokemon exit the cab with Pikachu following close behind. _"….at least you didn't have to deal with someone's tail stuck in your face the entire time…._ " he sarcastically thought in response, only to be met with Mewtwo's icy glare the minute he stepped out as well.

" _What was that?!_ " it angrily demanded and before Red could even utter a response, floated right up to him and with its eyes narrowed threatened, "It would do you well to remember young man, that I can read both your thoughts and your words!"

With that, Mewtwo swiftly turned around, leaving a perplexed Red standing there as it floated off. "Great…." he dully remarked, rolling his eyes as he turned his head towards Pikachu, "Now I have to watch what I say **AND** what I think!"

"Pika….pi…."

The two sighed. Normally, a cab drive to Mt. Silver's base usually took around 30 minutes; not a very long trip all things considered.

However, after all the hassle it took to convince Mewtwo to come, its constant groaning the entire trip and the general discomfort of having to fit all 3 of them in the cab's back seat; that meager 30 minutes felt like an eternity.

However, despite all of that, Red's spirit would not be broken as against all odds, he had managed to do the impossible.

Somehow, he managed to bring both Pikachu and the all-powerful Psychic Pokemon to this mall with him and couldn't help but triumphantly smile as the three stood before the huge complex.

"Well here we are!" he happily exclaimed while turning to his yellow partner, "Are you excited Pikachu?"

"Pika!" the tiny Pokemon called out in response.

Slowly turning his head the other Pokemon present, Red knew what kind of response Mewtwo would probably give to him, yet he still felt the need to ask.

"What about you Mewtwo?"

" _Your human festivities do not interest me in the slightest._ " the Psychic Pokemon simply replied, its arms crossed as it stood there with its eyes closed, " _Do recall that the only reason I'm on this excursion to begin with is because it was forced upon me! Not because I wanted to!_ "

Red sighed. Even if it was with good intentions, he really did feel bad for tricking Mewtwo the way he did. "Well I won't argue with you on that." he reluctantly noted before giving the Psychic Pokemon a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "But can you at least try to enjoy yourself today?"

Finally opening its eyes, Mewtwo quickly glanced over at Red before returning them to the huge structure that stood before them.

Inside would be hundreds, if not, thousands of humans. Beings that Mewtwo had despised for its entire existence and now, against its will, it was being forced to intermingle with them.

…..and no enjoyment could possibly come from that.

"… _.let's just get this over with….."_

* * *

The mall in question, while nowhere near as big as the department stores in Celadon, Saffron and Goldenrod, was still quite the sight to behold. Despite it being a bit out of the way for the general populous, it still housed a good variety of stores, food court, everything that one would expect a mall to have.

As such, Red knew he had a huge challenge on his hands and as he proceeded to walk forward, he had to wonder: After such a long history of distrusting humans, how would Mewtwo react to being exposed to such a large number of them all at once and more importantly, how would they react to him?

Questions like these proceeded to rack Red's brain non-stop as they stepped closer and closer to the mall's entrance. However, no matter how many questions floated about his brain, one thing was for sure: No matter what happened, this was going to be a very difficult experience to endure and it took no less than them walking up to the front door for it to begin…..

" _Hmm?_ " Mewtwo pondered, swiftly twisting its head as they walked through the mall's sliding glass doors.

Noticing that the Psychic Pokemon was no longer following them, Red quickly turned around as well.

"What's up Mewt-"

In the blink of an eye, Mewtwo took a fighting stance as a white hand suddenly flew in front of Red and Pikachu's faces.

" _Be on guard!_ " it sternly warned, " _A psychic-type Pokemon must be nearby!_ "

Watching as this all played out in front of him, Red had to cover his mouth in an attempt to not burst out laughing. For all its talk of how powerful it was, seeing Mewtwo cautiously stick its hand out and stare in awe as the doors magically opened was one of the most innocent things Red had ever seen.

"…..it's okay Mewtwo, that's an automatic door." he calmly attempted to explain, reaching his hand forward to show the Psychic Pokemon how it worked, "See? It opens when it senses something's near it."

Mewtwo watched as the door magically opened for Red as well and stared at him in shock. _"…so…..a Pokemon isn't doing this?_ " he asked, knowing full well that a mere human could never possess such power.

"Nope! It's run by a machine."

Mewtwo gave Red a confused look before turning back to the automatic door and with its eyes narrowed, sternly muttered. " _…..human sorcery…"_

* * *

With that mystery resolved, the three overlooked the sight in front of them. All throughout the mall, everything was adorned with lights and decorations as far as the eye could see as hundreds of people hastily scrambled about, attempting to get all their shopping done before tomorrow inevitably came.

Observing the sight before him, Red could feel a pit beginning to form in his stomach. Not only because of the sheer amount of people Mewtwo would have to be exposed to, but also because…

"Mommy! Mommy!" a small voice suddenly cried out and upon looking over, Red could see a little boy running towards him with his mom in tow, "Look! Look! It's the champion!"

This was what he was afraid of. It wasn't often that Red went out to a public place like this, but every time he did, people would recognize him.

"Sorry if my son startled you!" the boy's mom quickly apologized, hastily bowing to Red in the process, "He's a big fan of yours."

Red chuckled. Even if he wasn't too excited about the public exposure, he also wasn't about to be rude to anyone who came up him. "Is that so? Well thank you very much." he politely replied as he knelt down to the boy's level, "But, just remember, Lance is the champion now, I'm simply an Ex-champion."

Despite his correction, the boy simply didn't care and still proceeded to call him champion as he began pointing out to his mother. "Mommy! Look! It's the champion's Pikachu!" he happily exclaimed, "It's so cute!"

The yellow pokemon let out a cry out of joy as the boy began cautiously petting its head before glancing up towards Mewtwo.

"What's that weird floaty thing?"

In that moment, Red felt his heart stop as the boy's words caused the already present scowl on Mewtwo's face to grow ever so slightly.

In a panic, he quickly ran over to the Psychic Pokemon's side, hoping to get there before it had a chance to respond. "U-uhh…t-this is Mewtwo." Red hastily introduced, scrambling think of an explanation for his presence, "He's uhh….he's a new member of my team!"

Curious, the boy stood up and Mewtwo said nothing as he scanned the Psychic Pokemon up and down.

"He's really scary looking!"

Unsure whether to dread or laugh at what the boy just proclaimed, Red began hollowly chuckling as he watched Mewtwo's hand twitch in response.

"Okay come on dear. It's time to go home" the mother thankfully exclaimed, dragging the boy off before he could say anything else.

Hastily waving goodbye, Red could only continue hollowly chuckling while doing his best to avoid all eye contact with the Psychic Pokemon.

That was definitely not the first kind of encounter he wanted Mewtwo to experience and slowly panned his eyes over to see it standing there with its arms crossed.

"… _.I suppose it wouldn't help if I explained to the child that I could destroy him with the mere snap of my fingers…..would it?_ " it duly noted.

Nervously shifting his eyes, Red bit his lip. They were only 2 steps in the door and he was already on thin ice. "P-please don't!" he pleaded through gritted teeth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While the escapades at the mall were currently getting underway, miles above Mt. Silver's base, Leaf was already hard at work.

With Red out of the house and the other Pokemon preoccupied, the brunette haired girl was diligently prepping for tomorrow's dinner.

As such, the kitchen was littered with pots and pans bubbling about, while Leaf bolted between each one, her face totally concealed by the huge cookbook she was carrying.

"Hmm…." she pondered as her eyes scanned over the next instructions, "The recipe calls for me to flambé these vegetables…."

Sarcastically rolling her eyes, Leaf turned to the pink Pokemon perched atop her shoulder and scoffed. "Pfft! Flambe! What kind of Kalosian saying is that?" she joked as Jiggylpuff unknowingly shrugged in response.

"Jiggy?"

Seeing that one of the next ingredients she would need was berry juice, Leaf curiously glanced around before spotting a bottle sitting on a nearby shelf and grabbing it. "Okay…apparently I'm supposed to drizzle the vegetables with the berry juice first," she noted as she unscrewed the cap and began to pour it out.

"There we go….a little more…little more…"

Then, with a cheeky grin on her face, she turned the bottle and suddenly declared. "aaaannnndddd aaaaaa little for Leafy!"

Without warning, Leaf tilted the bottle up to her lips and took a quick swig. "Ooooh!" she happily exclaimed, smacking her lips as the tarty taste touched her pallet, "A little more for Leafy!"

Jigglypuff rolled its eyes as its trainer nearly downed the whole bottle with one swig, but didn't have too much time to reflect as Leaf suddenly held her hand out towards it.

"Okay! Match!"

"Jigglypuff!" the pink Pokemon quickly replied, hastily grabbing a box of nearby matches with its stubby hands and passing them over to Leaf.

Taking the box for herself, Leaf lit one of the matches and as instructed, held it over the juice soaked vegetables.

"We just stick this near the frying pan and….."

*PHOOOFFFFF*

In an instant, a huge fireball erupted from the frying pan, nearly causing Jigglypuff to fall off the counter from the shock of it all.

For anybody else, such a flame would be a cause for concern, but for Leaf, it only served to excite her even more as she began to audibly cackle out loud. "HO! HO! HO!" she delightfully chortled while raising her hands in the air, "I AM THE MISTRESS OF FIRE!"

Thankfully, as fast as it came, the flame quickly died. However as Jigglypuff watched from the counter, it noticed that its trainer now had a huge grin on her face.

…..and that grin could only mean one thing: **Trouble**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the mall, after making his way past leagues of fans, Red had finally managed to drag Pikachu and Mewtwo to a local clothing store. Right now, finding Leaf's gift was his top priority and what better place to start, than looking at girl's clothing.

" _What's the meaning of this young man?!_ " the sound of Mewtwo's voice groaned in Red's mind as they walked down an aisle full of multicolored outfits. " _I thought we came here to get some blasted bird?!_ "

"Well….that's…definitely….part….of the reason why we came." Red sheepishly responded before turning to Mewtwo and finally explaining his dilemma, "Truth is….I've been really having a hard time thinking of a gift to get Leaf for Christmas and I was hoping that coming to the mall would help me find something."

Mewtwo stared at the red-capped boy perplexed. " _A…gift?_ " it confusingly replied, wondering why something so simple was causing Red such stress. " _From what I've seen, the young lady would probably be satisfied with anything you gave her._ "

Red chuckled. "Buying for Leaf isn't that simple Mewtwo." he noted, stroking his chin as he stared at some expensive jackets on display, "See….not only does the gift I get have to be nice….but it also has to be something that she can't easily go out and steal for herself….."

Mewtwo watched as Red began hastily sifting through outfit after outfit and shook its head. " _You humans always make things so complicated…._ " it scoffed in response before beginning to curiously look around itself, " _Now….if I were to ever to indulge in buying a gift…..it would be something….practical._ "

"Practical?"

" _Indeed…..let's see here…._ "

Floating over to a nearby wall filled with some very expensive looking satin laced clothes, Mewtwo began to scan it up and down, its eyes rapidly darting from side to side before suddenly extending its hand out and pulling a piece of clothing off a nearby rack with its psychic powers.

" _Ah! Here we are!_ "

Turning around to present its findings, Red's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he saw what it was holding.

"M-M-Mewtwo!" he could barely speak as within the Psychic Pokemon's hands was a small piece of pink clothing that Red was all too familiar with, "T-Those are panties!"

Quite proud of its choice, the Psychic Pokemon nodded as it looked down at the undergarment in question. " _Indeed."_ Mewtwo simply replied as it telepathically began floating the panties over to Red, " _Not only are they practical, but, in my personal opinion, are also quite alluring._ "

Feeling the silkiness of the fabric as it was placed in his hand, Red could sense the sweat beginning to form on his brow. "I-I can't give this to Leaf!" he quickly protested, prompting Mewtwo to give him a confused look.

" _Why's that?_ "

Red rolled his eyes. Was he really having this conversation right now? "B-because!" he nervously stammered, desperately trying to find his words, "Y-You….you….you can't just….give a girl panties for Christmas!"

" _Oh?_ " Mewtwo nonchalantly replied, " _According to my observations, these seem to be quite the frequent wear of the young lady._ "

No sooner did those words leave Mewtwo's mouth and Red's eyes went wider than they ever had before. It was all said so suddenly that it totally caught him off-guard.

"Y-Y-Y-"

Words could not describe the hurricane of questions spiraling throughout Red's mind right now and with his finger intensely raised, said the first thing polite thing he could think of.

"I-I-I-I'm not even going **ASK** how you could possibly know that!" he stammered as Mewtwo causally shrugged in response.

" _You'd be surprised what she does around the house when you're not present._ "

Red was at a loss for words, his face totally flush as he intensely shook his head desperately trying to rid himself of any dirty thoughts he currently had. "Here!" he yelled as he pushed the panties back into Mewtwo's hand, "Put those back!"

" _Your face is turning flush young man._ " Mewtwo playfully teased, finding a bizarre amount of joy as it floated the panties in front of Red's face, " _Does this make you uncomfortable?"_

Gritting his teeth as the panties were brushed against the side of his face, Red attempted to reach out and grab them to no avail.

"P-put them-"

He frantically reached out again and again, yet every time Mewtwo would effortlessly pull them out his grasp.

It was a ridiculous sight to behold and Pikachu was rolling on the ground laughing at its trainer's misfortune….until…..

"A-HEM!"

Immediately stopping mid-grab, Red quickly turned to see a very well-dressed store clerk standing there with her arms crossed, not realizing that he had grabbed the panties as he did.

"May I assist you gentleman with something?"

"O-oh! W-we were just….b-browsing!" he stammered before glancing down at the panties in his hand and quickly noting, "F-for my girlfriend obviously!"

Red watched as the clerk curiously raised her eyebrows, clearly unsatisfied with his answer and quickly turned to the Psychic Pokemon beside him. "I-Isn't that right Mewtwo?" he desperately asked, hoping that it would back him up.

"Mewtwo….Mewtwo….." it simply replied prompting Red to shockingly narrow his eyes.

"Oooooooh don't you start playing that Pokemon can only say their name game with me right now!" he yelled, grabbing the Psychic Pokemon with one hand while intensely shaking his fist with the other, "I know you can talk! Now TALK!"

"Mewtwo…."

Not really knowing what to make as she watched this fight play out in front of her, the clerk simply shook her head. "I'll just leave you two be…." she dully muttered before walking away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, riding high on the excitement her cooking had brought on, Leaf quickly grabbed all the vegetables she had in the pantry and hastily threw them on the frying pan.

"Oh man! We gotta try this again Jigglypuff!" she joyfully exclaimed while rubbing her hands together.

Knowing all too well what that mischievous look her in eye meant, Jigglypuff was understandably a bit concerned.

"Jigglypuff! Jigglypuff!" it worryingly protested, but Leaf was having none of it.

"Ooooh! Where's your sense of adventure like the old days?" she exclaimed as Jigglypuff waved its stubby arms at her.

Unfortunately, Jigglypuff's protests were to no avail and before long, the pink Pokemon conceded to its trainer's wishes.

"Jigglypuff…"

With an intense look in her eyes, Leaf grabbed the berry juice bottle off the counter and began pouring a healthy amount over the vegetables. "Yes! More! Let's load it up this time!" she cackled as she lit a match and held it over the pan.

"OKAY!"

"ONE!"

"TWO!"

"THR-"

*PHFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF*

In an instant a blinding burst of orange and yellow erupted from the frying pan, emitting an intense heat as it did.

Having to cover her eyes from brightness, Leaf stood frozen in shock at the sight before her. "AHHHHHHHH!" she screamed as flames began spewing to and forth from the frying pan to other areas of the kitchen. "OH NO! OH NOOOOO!"

On pure instinct alone, Leaf grabbed a tea towel off the counter and as fast as she could, soaked it in cold water before running back over to the fire. "STOP IT! GO OUT! GO OUT!" she yelled as she attempted to whip the fire from as safe of a distance as she could, "TAURO! TAURO!"

No doubt alerted by her initial bout of screaming, all 9 of the other Pokemon came running into the kitchen at full speed, all recoiling in shock as they saw the disaster in front of them.

Acting quickly as they could, Blastoise aimed both its cannons at the fire while Lapras arced its head back and soaked the fire with both their Hydro Pumps before Articuno arced its head back and froze the area over with its Ice Beam, ensuring that the flames definitely were out.

With that accomplished, they all turned to a heavily breathing Leaf to check on her. "I-I'm…okay…." she panted in an attempt to catch her breath. "T-thanks….guys…..I can….take it from here….."

After making sure that she was indeed okay, all the Pokemon returned to the living room, leaving Leaf and Jigglypuff to resume their cooking.

* * *

"Hoooooo….that was close." The brunette haired girl sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from her brow as she leaned against one of the counters, "I don't think Red would like it if he came back to a burned down house."

Jigglypuff could only shake its head as it watched its trainer pick up the completely charred fry pan from the stove and with an innocent smile on her face stated.

"What say we ease up on the flambéing?"

"Jigglypuff….."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Continuing their crusade to find Leaf's present, the trio of Red, Pikachu and Mewtwo stopped as they caught sight of certain individual; one that they knew, all too well.

"HO! HO! HO!" the individual loudly chuckled causing an almost childlike grin to form on Red's face.

"Look guys, it's Santa!" he happily pointed out to the two Pokemon.

Sure enough, at the centre of the mall was a huge display of the North Pole and sitting upon an icy throne in the middle was an old man in a red suit with a huge line up of kids waiting to see him.

Of course, Red knew the truth when it came to the legend of Santa. However, that didn't stop him from turning to Pikachu and excitedly asking. "You wanna go see him?"

Almost immediately Pikachu's face lit up at the suggestion, happily throwing its arms in the air and squeaking. "Pika! Pika!" at the top of its lungs.

With an almost childlike giddiness from Pikachu's answer, Red quickly turned to the other pokemon present and much to his surprise, saw him standing there stroking his chin in thought.

"…..what about you Mewtwo?"

The Psychic Pokemon said nothing as it stared at the sight in front of it. He may not have known lots when it came to humans, but he had definitely heard the tales of THIS particular one and upon seeing the dozens of children happily flocking to the old man, Mewtwo had to wonder: What made this human so special?

"… _..very well." i_ t suddenly spoke causing both Red and Pikachu to recoil in shock.

"R-really?"

Totally stunned by its answer, Red watched as the Psychic Pokemon gave a small nod and though admittedly a bit confused, shrugged back.

"Okay then!" he happily stated before thrusting his finger in the air, "LET'S GO!"

With that, both Red and Pikachu began sprinting towards the line that had formed with Mewtwo slowly bringing up the rear as it floated behind them.

" _So…."_ it curiously pondered " _You're the one called Santa….huh…."_

* * *

It took a fair bit of time to make it through the line as numerous children and Pokemon were eagerly waiting to see Santa, but eventually...

"A light ball?" the jolly old man's voice boomed as Pikachu happily sat on his lap, "That's a pretty big wish!"

Red watched as the old man looked up at him and gave him a reassuring wink in return.

"Judging from how good you've been, I'll make sure you get one this Christmas!"

"Pika! Pi!" Pikachu happily exclaimed, giving the old man a hug before jumping off his lap.

"HO! HO! HO! Who's next to see Santa?"

" _It's my turn,"_ Mewtwo noted as Red confusingly looked over at him.

"I still can't believe you want to see Santa Mewtwo." he bafflingly exclaimed, "How do you even know who he is?"

Mewtwo crossed its arms. " _The young lady has talked about him in great length and after doing some research, I have some….matters…I wish to discuss with him._ " he explained before giving Red a quick shove out of the way, " _Now if you please…._ "

Slowly floating over, Mewtwo watched as the old man extended his arms out to him. "HO! HO! HO! And what's your nam-"

Before the mall Santa could even ask, he was met with a white hand to his face.

" _Cut the small talk human! I'll have you know that I have an IQ of 3000 and after all the tales I've heard about you, I'm here for answers!_ " Mewtwo immediately exclaimed as he sat on the old man's lap and enclosed his hand like a claw _"….and do be aware that I can snap your mind with a mere thought so I'd suggest you answer me honestly!_ "

No doubt surprised by the sudden voice echoing throughout his head, the mall Santa watched in horror as Mewtwo formed a small shadow ball in its hand to show it meant business before pulling out a piece of paper and reading off it.

" _First question: these Stantler you have, how do they fly? Is it learned naturally or is it some sort of scientific alteration?_ "

The old man watched as Mewtwo turned to him expecting an answer and froze. Of all things he did not intend on happening when coming to work today, it was getting quizzed on the scientific nature of Santa Claus…..with his life on the line no less.

"W-well….I….uhhh-"

" _You're right it doesn't matter!_ " Mewtwo quickly agreed before reading out another question, " _Question 2: How do you keep all those items in your bag without it changing size? Is it-_ "

"Okay Mewtwo it's time to go!" Red's voice suddenly called out, hoping to stop this before someone got hurt.

" _But I'm not finished yet!"_

Not wanting to waste time arguing, Red walked right up to the chair the two were sitting at and pointed towards the line. "Come on Mewtwo, you're holding up all the kids that wanna see Santa!" he stated through clenched teeth before suddenly grabbing the Psychic Pokemon's arm.

" _Hey! Get your hand off me human!_ " Mewtwo exclaimed, but Red wasn't about to give up.

"Let's go!"

With as much force as they could muster, Red and Pikachu somehow managed to pull Mewtwo away. However, just as the mall Santa thought he was safe, the Psychic Pokemon suddenly turned towards him and with anger in its voice yelled. " _Just you wait Cringle! I'll figure out your secrets!_ " it vehemently declared while shaking its fist him, " _You haven't seen the last of me!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After somehow managing to finish the rest of the cooking with little to no threat of the house burning down, Leaf and the other Pokemon were currently huddled around the Christmas tree, busily wrapping their presents.

"Come on…..come on…." Leaf urged as she attempted to hold her wrapped present together with one hand and a piece of tape in the other.

Slowly but surely she lowered the tape towards the anchor point.

"Gently…..gently….gen-ARRRRGGGHHHHH!"

Hearing Leaf's scream of agony, all the Pokemon quickly turned to her, only to see her present totally unwrap itself after slightly moving her finger.

Truth be told, the brunette haired girl had never actually wrapped a present for someone before and was currently on her 10th attempt at trying to wrap just one.

"Come on! Do I have to talk dirty to you?!" she angrily yelled at the unwrapped present, hastily grabbing the loose wrapping paper and trying again. "I'm going to wrap you up whether you like it or not!"

Seeing just how frustrated its trainer was getting, Jigglypuff chuckled as despite never wrapping a present before either, it had somehow managed to wrap all of its presents before Leaf could even finish one.

"Jiggly!" it happily called out as it walked over and with its stubby hand, held the present together for Leaf to tape down.

"Thanks Jigglypuff…." she sighed in relief before turned to other Pokemon. "How's everybody else doing?"

Curious, she looked around to see that everyone was actually doing quite well: Aside from Snolax being totally asleep, Charizard and Clefable were helping one another to tie down each other's presents, Venasaur's vines easily held down its present as it tied it together, even the mystic birds were doing well as they used their beaks to anchor and their talons to tie.

" _Wow….even the ones with no hands are having an easier time than me…._ " Leaf dully thought to herself before hearing a soft voice call out to her.

She quickly turned around to see Red's Lapras trying to hold its present together.

"Do you need some help Lapras?"

The shelled Pokemon currently had its present held down with its teeth as Leaf ran over to assist. "How did you ever manage to wrap this?" she bafflingly asked as she taped the gift down and Lapras curiously tilted its head at her in response causing her to chuckle.

"I suppose if Red trained you to walk on land, I shouldn't be surprised that you can wrap a present huh?"

* * *

It took an unprecedented amount of time of wrapping, re-wrapping, and frustration before all the presents were finally wrapped, but Leaf didn't mind.

Despite the frustration of it all, she was truly having a great time and really showed just how far she and Red's Pokemon had come in the time they had spent together. What were once complete strangers to Leaf, had pretty much become Pokemon of her own and she couldn't be happier to spend this time with them.

"Alright, everyone!" Leaf happily called out as she wrapped her last gift, "Time to put these presents under the tree!"

Wasting no time, everyone began pushing their presents towards the tree, filling the base of it with a multitude of coloured packages.

Upon placing all her gifts, Leaf took her last one and held it close to her heart. It was a decently sized package, wrapped in a bright red glossy paper and was going to be for someone very special to her.

"Jigglypuff!" she heard her pink partner call out and upon glancing over, saw that Jigglypuff was happily smiling at her.

"Thanks Jigglypuff, I really did put a lot of effort into wrapping this one!" she happily stated as she gently placed it beside the other presents and whispered "…..I hope he likes it."

* * *

With that done, everyone gathered in front of the Christmas tree. With the presents underneath it, it really looked like the complete package….at least that's what Leaf thought anyway.

Up until this point, she had always envisioned what something like this would look like and only had an idea because of pictures she'd seen.

It was strange, at this time last year, Leaf was cold and alone, only having Jigglypuff by her side as they wandered the streets of Kanto and now, things couldn't be any more different. Now she was surrounded by beings that loved her, beings that accepted her for who she was….and yet….something just didn't feel right.

Her eyes fixated upon the bright red package and for some reason, her mind began to drift towards the person that gift was intended for.

It had been a while since he had left and even though she'd had a great time wrapping the presents with the Pokemon, Leaf couldn't help but feel that it would have been even better if Red was there to experience it with her.

" _Maybe I wouldn't have got so frustrated if he was here to help me!_ " she sarcastically joked to herself, thinking of all the ways she'd tell Red off when he got back.

However, that was just the thing; Leaf didn't know when Red was coming back and even though she didn't want to admit it, she was really beginning to miss him.

She then watched as the Pokemon began happily dancing around the Christmas tree and not wanting to ruin the happy mood with how sad she was becoming, quietly slipped away from the festivities to be alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _I refuse!_ "

"Come on Mewtwo! This will be the last store I swear!" Red urged as they stood in front of another fancy looking store, but the Psychic Pokemon would not budge.

" _You said it was going to be the last store 20 stores ago!_ " it exclaimed before intensely pointing its finger in the store's direction, " _I refuse to go into another one of these human establishments!_ "

Not wanting to argue anymore, Red threw his hands in the air. "Alright! Alright! Have a seat on the bench and we'll be out in a bit." he stated before pointing his finger at Mewtwo and adding, "Just….try not to destroy anything while we're gone."

With that, the two rushed into the store, leaving Mewtwo standing there amongst the crowd. _**"…try not to destroy anything while we're gone…**_ " it scoffed as it proceeded to sit down on the bench, " _Most powerful Pokemon in existence and he treats me like a child!_ "

Sighing as it rested head against the back of the bench, Mewtwo took this time to observe its surroundings.

If the mall was a lot quieter it could have used this time to catch up on some meditation, but there was no way it could ever concentrate with the amount of noise that was around it.

To make matters worse, every person that passed by gave a strange look to the Psychic Pokemon, only adding to the fact that it felt isolated.

" _Why did I ever agree to come here…_ " it stressfully thought to itself, " _I should have known that I wasn't ready to attempt going to a heavily populated human area…._ "

It then proceeded to bury its face in its hand, trying so hard to mask itself from everyone else. However, as it sat there, something caught Mewtwo's eye.

At the next store over, a middle-aged young lady and her Gardevoir had stopped to look in the window of a fancy clothing store and Mewtwo couldn't help but find itself unable to take its eyes off.

No doubt realizing that it was being watched, the Gardevoir shifted its eyes in Mewtwo's direction causing the Psychic Pokemon to quickly turn away in embarrassment.

" _Blast! Of things I get caught staring!_ " it hissed at itself. However, its fit of embarrassment would not last as Mewtwo noticed a stray button on the ground suddenly levitate and float its way onto its lap.

Quickly raising its head, Mewtwo saw that the Gardevoir was now looking right at him and gave the Psychic Pokemon a shy wave hello.

Unsure what to make of all this, Mewtwo hesitantly glanced over both shoulders before finally pointing at itself and watched as it giggled in response.

Still shocked that this was actually happening, Mewtwo watched as the Gardevoir turned to its trainer, making sure she was busy looking at all the outfits before making a small Energy Ball with its hands and gracefully began floating it around.

Completely mesmerized by what was happening, Mewtwo decided it should return the gesture and formed a few small shadow balls in its hands. Then, simultaneously throwing them in the air, attempted to juggle them the best it could.

Unfortunately, as smart as Mewtwo was, juggling was not one of its strong suits and accidentally let one of its shadow balls fly from its hands, smashing a nearby pot as it made contact.

" _Ooops…."_ it clumsily stated as the Gardevoir laughed at its misfortune.

Mewtwo couldn't help but chuckle as well. Even though this little exchange probably meant nothing, the Psychic Pokemon was quite enjoying its first exchange with another psychic type it'd had in a long while and upon looking over at the shattered remains of the pot it had just smashed, reached out and telepathically grabbed one of the flowers out of it.

Blushing as the flower was presented to it, the Gardevoir quickly looked over at its trainer, making sure she was preoccupied before extending its hand out as well, feeling their auras overlapping as the two passed the flower from one to the other.

* * *

While all this was going on, Red and Pikachu finally exited the store feeling very proud of themselves.

"I can't believe it Pikachu! Leaf's going to love this!" he happily stated as Pikachu smiled in return, "Oh…I hope Mewtwo didn't mind having to wait so lon-"

Red's voice faded as his eyes bore witness to the sight in front of him. There was Mewtwo, sitting on the bench, one hand resting its head atop of it and the other outstretched with a flower floating a few feet in front of it.

"What….in…the…world?"

Red had no words, but a quick glance over in the direction of the flower, quickly answered his question as he saw another Pokemon standing there with its hand outstretched as well.

After exchanging glances and sharing a quick chuckle between each other, Red and Pikachu quietly began making their way over to the bench.

Mewtwo still had its eyes fixed on Gardevoir as Red silently sat down beside it. Unsure what exactly he should say in this situation, Red simply tipped his hat over his eyes, stretched out and granted the Psychic Pokemon a few seconds of silence before finally asking. "….what are you doing?"

" _She's pretty cute, wouldn't you agree young man?_ " Mewtwo casually spoke in his mind, without turning its head.

Unsure of how to respond, Red simply scratched his head. "U-uhhh…..I-I don't if I'm the right person to ask that question to Mewtwo." he stammered, his face turning a bit flush at the mere thought, "I-I mean….I've never really looked at a Pokemon that way before."

" _Oh she's so talented and she's got a great personality_."

Red bit his lip. He had never seen Mewtwo so happy before and of course, it happened the minute he left the Psychic Pokemon alone. "Do you….want to go talk to her?" he offered as Mewtwo suddenly turned around to face him.

"… _.and introduce you as my trainer?"_

Red shrugged. "Why not?" he wondered before confidently pointing to himself, "I'm sure she'd be pretty impressed when she finds out your trainer's an EX-Champion!"

Red watched as Mewtwo stared at him for a second before sarcastically rolling its eyes. " _Yeah, EX!_ " he sarcastically scoffed, " _I'd probably be rejected the moment you opened your mouth!_ "

A deadpanned look fell over Red's face as Mewtwo returned his focus back towards Gardevoir. "….wow...who needs Blue putting me down when I have this….." he dully muttered in response.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Happily jumping up and down as it danced about with the other Pokemon, Jigglypuff paused as it noticed that its trainer had suddenly disappeared.

"Jiggly? Jiggly!" it called out, but Leaf was nowhere to be seen and upon walking over to a nearby room, saw its trainer sitting by a window.

Quietly jumping up onto the table beside her, Jigglypuff watched as Leaf silently stared out at the snowy landscape with sorrow in her eyes.

It was a beautiful mid-afternoon day and despite how late it was getting, the sun was still shining bright, sparkling off the snow as it shone down on it.

Yet beautiful as it may be, it did not quell the uneasiness Leaf felt in her heart and noticing that something was wrong, Jigglypuff gave its trainer a little tap on the shoulder.

"Jigglypuff?" it called out as she turned and gave the pink Pokemon a weak smile.

"Wish Red were here to see how the tree looks with all the presents underneath it…" she admitted as she slowly petted her partners head, "It's just not the same without him…"

"Jiggly…" Jigglypuff sighed in response. Red had been gone for quite a long time and now that its trainer had mentioned it, the pink Pokemon was beginning to miss him as well.

"I really hope Mewtwo's not giving him too hard of time." Leaf suddenly chuckled out loud as she turned to Jigglypuff with a smile on her face, "Maybe that's why he's taking so long?"

"Jiggly!" Jigglypuff quickly nodded as its trainer stood up from the chair she was sitting in.

"Sorry for worrying you Jigglypuff, I'm sure they'll be coming up the road any time now!" Leaf quickly apologized as she watched her pink partner jump off the table and reassuringly nod in response, "Let's head back before the others begin to worry too!"

With that, the two began making their way back to the living room. However, about half-way Leaf stopped and glanced back over to the window. Call it a premonition or women's intuition but for some reason, Leaf just didn't feel right and whether subconsciously or not found that her hand had begun to tightly grip her PokeNav as she walked.

" _Come home….soon…._ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the mall, with Leaf's present attained, it didn't take long for Red to quickly gather up the rest of the stuff he had came for.

As such, his arms were now full of bags containing a bunch of presents for the other Pokemon as well as the holiday Farfetched they'd originally came for.

"Okay! I think that's everything!" he happily stated while looking down at the bags, "You guys ready to go home?"

"Pika! Pika!"

"… _..finally."_

Red sighed, tipping his hat over his eyes as he heard Mewtwo's response. This whole trip was supposed to be a way for Mewtwo to come out of its shell and yet, after everything Red had endured, it seemed like the Psychic Pokemon was no happier now than it had been before they'd left.

"…sorry for making you come with us Mewtwo….." he genuinely apologized, "I know it was hard for you."

The Psychic Pokemon sighed in response. Truth be told, while the trip was nowhere near as terrible as Mewtwo had initially envisioned, it was defiantly one that it never wanted to experience again.

" _Yeah….well…the sooner we're away from here the better._ "

Red bit his lip. There had to be something, SOMETHING that he could do to make this trip worthwhile for all of them and it took only a few minutes of thinking to come up with an idea.

"Listen…." he muttered as he lowered his bags to the ground and began sifting through them, "Before we go….I wanted to give you these."

The two Pokemon watched in wonder as Red pulled out two golden chains, each with a red gem encrusted in the middle and held them up to their faces.

"Pika?"

" _What are they?_ "

"They're called flame orb bracelets." Red happily explained as he walked over to Mewtwo and began placing the bracelet on one of its arms, "Apparently they're supposed to keep you warm even in the most frigid conditions."

"…. _sounds like a scam to me_ ," Mewtwo noted as Red chuckled in response.

"Trust me, the girl at one of the stores said they work great!"

Mewtwo paused as the bracelet was snapped into place. It definitely didn't feel any different and just as he was about to call Red out for being so easily swindled….

" _Woah!"_ it gasped as warmth suddenly overcame its body, " _It….works!_ "

"It does? Great!" Red cheered as he knelt down to Pikachu's level and began placing the other bracelet around its neck.

Truly shocked, Mewtwo curiously looked down at the bracelet in question before glancing over at the man who had given it to him. _"…..why did you get this for me?"_ it wondered, realizing that this was the first gift it had ever been given.

"Well, I know how cold it can get at home some nights, so I got one for everyone." Red happily replied, smiling as he looked up towards the Psychic Pokemon, "But I wanted to give you guys yours early as thanks coming with me today."

"Pika! Pika!"

Not really sure how to react to such a gesture, Mewtwo cleared its throat. " _Well….I thank you for this young man._ " it politely replied before floating up to Red and while intensely pointing at him declared, _"….but don't think that just because you got me this gift, I'll accompany you to a place like this ever again!"_

Red chuckled, shaking his head as he patted the Psychic Pokemon on the shoulder. "Oh trust me, the feeling's mutual." he sarcastically replied before bending down to pick up his bags, "Alright! Let's go home!"

With Pikachu perched atop his shoulder and Mewtwo floating closely behind, the three finally exited the mall.

However, little did they know that the minute they stepped outside a message would suddenly ring out over the mall's P.A. system.

*ATTENTION SHOPPERS* *ATTENTION SHOPPERS*

A voice sternly announced.

*PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT A MAJOR WEATHER CELL HAS FORMED OVER THE KANTONIAN EAST COAST. RADIO….SIGNAL…WILL…..SOON…ZZZZZ….ZZZSTAY….INZZZZDDDOOOZZZRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ….ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

* * *

 **Alright Ladies and Gentleman, that's it! Man was that a fun chapter to write.**

 **To answer andrewmedley18's question if certain characters are going to show up; the answer is no, no and no to each of them. I personally prefer to stick to a smaller cast, so only those who have appeared are ones you're going to see and also the story series itself is in its own continuity (more tied to the games if anything else).**

 **To everyone else who reviewed, thank you so much for your kind words, I really hoped you enjoyed this one and...I'll see you next chapter (hopefully sooner this time!)**

 **Ciao**


	3. In the Eye of the Storm

Chapter 3: In the Eye of the Storm

"What….the…"

The trio of Red, Mewtwo and Pikachu had just exited the mall when their eyes were met with very unseemly sight.

In a scene that looked straight out of a war zone, everyone was frantically running about, bumping into one another, trying their best to get away from the mall as fast as they could.

It was a bafflingly sight to say the least and before long, it only got worse…

" _HEY!_ " Mewtwo yelled as a reckless young man unceremonious bumped into it, stepping on its tail in the process.

Understandably upset, the psychic Pokemon immediately retaliated; extending its hand out and grabbing him with its telekinetic powers before he could get too far away.

Completely oblivious to his actions, the man just kept on running until finally realizing that he was no longer moving of his own will and screamed as Mewtwo began forcefully dragging him back over.

" _YOU WANNA TRY THAT AGAIN HUMAN?!_ " the psychic Pokemon shouted in the man's head, its icy glare tearing into him as it proceeded to lift the man right off the ground in anger.

Watching in horror as this all unfolded in front of him, Red immediately intervened. "MEWTWO! STOP IT! PUT HIM DOWN!" he yelled, grabbing Mewtwo's arm in an attempt to calm it down, "HE DIDN'T MEAN TO STEP ON YOU!"

"PIKA! PIKA!"

Mewtwo scoffed, its eyes narrowing by the second as the man helplessly squirmed against its grasp.

Right now, it wanted nothing more than to teach this human a lesson he would never forget….but it just couldn't bring itself to do it.

Between Red's yelling, everyone looking at it and the fact that it just wanted to go home, Mewtwo decided he wasn't worth it and scoffed as he finally dropped him to the ground.

"Sorry about that." Red immediately apologized as he helped the man up, "Do you mind telling me what's going on?"

The man's eyes were wild, frantically darting around in a panic. "D-didn't you hear?!" he nervously stammered, still in shock from all that happened, "T-they just announced that a huge blizzard has formed over the east coast! I-in a few hours everything's gonna be covered in snow!"

Red's eyes widened. "A blizzard…." he mouthed to himself before the man suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Red's jacket in a panic.

"I-If you guys value your life, y-you'd better get outta here as fast as you can!"

With that, the man ran off leaving Red standing there, his body tingling with anxiety from the sudden revelation.

" _So….that's explains what this pandemonium's all about…._ " he heard Mewtwo speak in his mind, but Red didn't have time to listen.

How could this have happened? Why now of all times?

Noticing that something was off, Mewtwo glanced over at the young man and saw him standing there with his hand firmly clutching his mouth in concern. His happy demeanor had disappeared, now replaced with one of the utmost seriousness.

It was a sight Mewtwo had only bore witness too once before and as Red glanced over, the intense look he gave reminded the psychic Pokemon of their first encounter.

"Come on then!" Red sternly commanded, "We need to hurry over to the taxi pick up right now!"

* * *

It took much longer than expected, but after 20 hard minutes of fighting their way through crowds of panicked pedestrians, the three finally managed to make it to the spot where taxis would usually sit in order to pick up potential customers.

Normally, Red would use his PokeNav to reserve one for pick up and as they made their way to the spot, he would attempt to access this service many times to no avail. Every time the app was brought up, the words *Not in Service* would flash on the screen and with no better options to consider, the three opted to sit down in a nearby shelter in hopes that one would eventually show up.

They waited for what felt like an eternity, knowing full well that with every minute that passed, the blizzard only got that much closer and yet….no cabs ever came.

" _What's going on human?!_ " Mewtwo grumbled, clearly losing whatever patience it had left, " _It's been almost an hour and our transportation still hasn't shown up!_ "

"I don't know!" Red frustratingly snapped back causing Pikachu to lower its ears in response.

It wasn't often that it saw Red act like this and upon noticing his unusual change in behaviour, Mewtwo decided to let him be as well.

Right now, the psychic Pokemon could clearly sense all of Red's emotions and on top of frustration, another emotion had currently taken predominance in his mind: **Fear.**

Fear of what was coming and understandably so.

Red had to do something. This blizzard was on its way and they were just sitting around doing nothing as it approached them.

"Excuse me!" he finally called out to an elderly man who was passing by, "Would you know when we can expect the next taxi to show up?"

Red watched as the man looked at him like he was totally crazy. "Taxi?!" he almost chuckled in response, "Pal, everyone's trying to get home before the blizzard hits, you'll be lucky if one shows up within the next 3 hours!"

"3 hours?!"

Red immediately shut his mouth, he didn't intend to yell that as loud as he did.

3 hours…..for all he knew, by that time one arrived, the blizzard could have already started and seeing the look of concern on his face, the elderly man quickly began to empathize.

"Hey….I'm sorry….but given the circumstances, that's your best bet." he apologized as Red shook his head in response.

"No….no….I understand." he reluctantly replied as he slowly turned back to Pikachu and Mewtwo.

No doubt realizing that they probably overheard the whole conversation, Red bit his lip as they simply stared at him. Right now, more than anything, he had to remain calm for their sakes and forced the best smile he could as he walked over to them. "Okay! Okay! Don't worry!" he quickly reassured them as he pulled out his PokeNav, "I'll simply call Leaf and we'll just have to wait for her to come get us."

Holding the PokeNav to his mouth, Pikachu and Mewtwo watched as Red quickly punched some numbers into his device…..only for his face to suddenly turn white as a sheet.

"… _.what is it?"_ Mewtwo wondered as Red frantically attempted to punch the number in again.

"It's…..it's not working….."

" _What do you mean?_ "

"My call won't go through!" Red exclaimed as he held the PokeNav up to Mewtwo's ear, "Listen, it's nothing but static!"

Unsure what Red was talking about, the psychic Pokemon pressed its ear against the device and paused as it heard the terrible buzzing sound Red spoke of. " _So….what does this mean?"_ it asked, but would get no response in return.

Instead, the red-capped boy just stood in silence, his eyes concealed by his hat as he tried to make sense of all this as well.

"Pika….Pi?"

" _Human! What does this mean?!"_ Mewtwo asked, much more aggressively this time and was met with Red's hand in its face.

"Hold on! Let me think!" he quickly responded before returning to his thoughts.

They were in a very delicate situation. Right now, more than anything, Red needed a plan of action.

" _My phone not working must mean the Lavender Town's radio tower must be down…meaning that the blizzard's currently over the East Coast…._ " he meticulously pondered to himself, _"…..meaning we should have some time before it actually makes its way inland….._ "

"… _.and what bearing does that have on our current situation?"_ Mewtwo suddenly spoke up and Red chuckled realizing that, even if he wanted too, there was no sense in hiding his thoughts to these two Pokemon.

"Given the circumstances….I believe we only have two options." he concluded as the three huddled up together to discuss Red's ideas, "Our first option is to wait here and hopefully either a cab will show up or Leaf will come looking for us."

" _That's a foolish idea!_ " Mewtwo quickly chimed in, " _Judging from how much time we've already wasted, the blizzard may very well be here by the time one of them shows up!_ "

"Pika! Pika!"

"I agree…." Red nodded in response.

Truth be told, he was hoping they wouldn't go for that idea. Waiting for Leaf could potentially put her in immediate danger and Red would never forgive himself if she got caught in the blizzard while looking for them.

However….his other idea was no less risky.

"The only other option I can think of is….."

Red swallowed hard. This was an outlandish idea, especially for him to suggest, but it was the only other option he could think of.

"There….there is a trail…"

" _A trail?_ "

"Yes….one that leads straight up the mountain." he explained while turning towards the towering mountain peak, "It'll take a few hours and is very rugged, but if we're lucky, we'll hopefully be able to make it back before the blizzard even hits."

Red paused as he turned back to the Pokemon.

"What do you guys think?"

He watched as the two cautiously looked at one another. Clearly they were as wary of this plan as Red was, but he did make a good point.

Right now, anything was better than just sitting around and the possibility that they might make it home before the storm hit was very enticing.

As such, with a smile on its face, Pikachu happily ran over and perched itself on Red's shoulder, committing itself to this idea.

"Pika! Pika!" it said while brushing the side of Red's face.

Laughing as he gave the electrical pokemon a scratch on the head in return, Red then turned to his guest of honor. After everything he'd put Mewtwo through today, this was the last thing he wanted to happen and eagerly awaited its opinion.

"What do you think Mewtwo?"

The psychic pokemon was silent as it stood with its eyes closed in thought. It was tired and wanted nothing more than to go home and return to its usual isolation. However, in order to do that, it had to make a decision and right now, there was no clearer choice. _"….anything's better than having to stand around with all these humans._ " it finally concluded as it floated up to Red as well. "Very well….let's go…."

"Okay!" Red exclaimed, happy that everyone was in agreement. However, before he could take a single step, he was stopped by Mewtwo suddenly grabbing his shoulder.

" _Oh, and human?_ " it added with a deathly glare on its face, " _Don't ever expect me to go anywhere with you again!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the house, Leaf and Jigglypuff had rejoined the other Pokemon and everyone was currently dancing about the living room while some cheery Christmas music played in the background.

"Hee! Hee!" Leaf giggled as she danced with Red's Charizard, "I think your trainer could take some dancing lessons from you Charizard!"

The fire pokemon happily roared in response as it gracefully dipped her over.

With that, the song came to an end, giving a chance for everyone to catch their breath as Leaf went to change up the music.

"Everyone up for another song?" she called out as the pokemon all cried out in response. "Okay! You got it!"

With the click of a button, a new song started up and Leaf watched as everyone once again began dancing about. She was having a great time and it definitely helped to pass the time until Red got home.

However, as she observed the happy atmosphere before her, Leaf noticed that one of the Pokemon was mysteriously absent. " _Where's Articuno?_ " she wondered and after a few seconds of looking around, quietly slipped away from the festivities to go find it.

* * *

Thankfully, Leaf didn't have to search for long as in the next room, she quickly found the mystic bird of ice sitting by a nearby window staring outside.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you all danced out?" she asked as the Articuno proceeded to narrow its eyes.

"Cuoo…" it cooed in response while nudging its head towards the window.

Doing as the mystic bird urged, Leaf peered out the window, her eyes widening as she saw what it was getting at.

Far off in the distance was a huge wall of ominous dark clouds, the sight of which caused Leaf's heart to drop the minute she laid eyes on them. All day long, Red being uncharacteristically late had already caused much worry for the brunette haired girl and this served to exemplify her fears.

"Those clouds….don't look friendly….do they?"

Articuno slowly shook its head in response. When it came to reading clouds, both it and Zapdos were masters of their craft and at this time of year, those clouds could only mean one thing: Blizzard.

Leaf slowly looked down at PokeNav, her hand now locked in a death grip around it. In all the time since she'd become a trainer, never once had she ever had to use the device and now, it looked like the time had finally come.

She couldn't wait any longer and taking a deep breath, turned to Articuno and said. "Okay….that does it!" the brunette haired girl exclaimed as she started walking towards the kitchen, "I'm going to call Red and find out where he is!"

Watching as she walked off, Articuno then turned back to the scene in front of it and sighed. If what the mystic bird believed those clouds represented to be true…..

…..then Red was in grave danger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With about 30 minutes of trail currently behind them, there was no turning back for the trio of Red, Pikachu and Mewtwo as they made their way up the mountain path.

" _You're certain this trail will lead us home?"_ Mewtwo inquired as it steadily floated in front of Red.

"That's right." he nodded in response. Despite only walking this trail once before, it wasn't a very hard one to remember as it kept pretty straight the entire way, "This should end up at the main road and the house isn't too far away from there."

Red watched as Mewtwo simply kept up its pace, not even bothering to look back at him even once. No doubt it was upset with him and Red truly felt horrible for everything he'd put the psychic Pokemon through today. "I'm sorry about all this…." he sincerely admitted to it, "I really should have prepared better…."

" _Well….at least we're away from that mall…._ " it bluntly replied.

Giving a weak smile in response, Red sighed as he began to observe his surroundings.

Last time he'd walked this trail was in early spring, so the sight of the surrounding trees being coated in a layer of white snow was quite the majestic sight to behold. It was such a peaceful atmosphere and despite the impending threat that loomed before them, Red felt content.

After everything they'd been through today, just getting the chance to walk with his Pokemon, with nothing but the sound of snow crunching against his feet, made Red feel closer to them than he had all day.

The only thing he didn't care for was just how numb his hands were starting to become from carrying his numerous bags of presents.

Obviously not planning on something like this happening, the only article of winter clothing Red currently had on was a light winter jacket. Other than his usual red cap covering his head, the thought of bringing gloves, boots or a scarf had never even crossed his mind when he left and now, he was really starting to regret it.

Even though the snow was only lightly falling, every flake that fell and touched his hand or got in his shoes, melted and now that ensuing moisture was slowly beginning to freeze.

Despite Red's attempts to hide it, Pikachu quickly took notice; realizing that on top of breathing heavier, its trainer was also starting to slow down.

"Pika Pi?" Pikachu asked in concern as Red turned and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm okay Pikachu, don't worry." he stated while scratching its head, "It's my fault for not dressing right, but I'll just have to make due!"

With that, Pikachu watched as Red closed his eyes and began to envision what it would be like back at home. A roaring fire would be cackling in the fireplace, everyone would be happy to see him and most importantly, Leaf would be there…probably ready to scold him for being so late. No doubt, she was definitely going to want him to make this up to her and thankfully, he still had a lot of time to think of ways to do it.

Slowly opening his eyes, Red smiled as a burning passion reignited in his heart. Now he had the motivation to keep going and as long that was the case, nothing would stop him from achieving his goal.

"Come on!" he shouted as a slight pep returned to his step, "Let's hurry and get home!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Slowly taking a seat in the kitchen, Leaf opened up her PokeNav and turned it on.

She really didn't want to call him. While Red had definitely opened up a lot since she'd met him, there were still times where his introverted nature would show itself and Leaf respected that. Today especially, with him having to look after Mewtwo, Leaf figured he probably didn't want to be disturbed, but this was a special case.

It wasn't very often that the brunette haired got worried, yet for some reason ever since Red left, she'd felt uneasy and after seeing those clouds that Articuno pointed out, she really needed to know if he was okay.

"You're okay…." she whispered as she began dialing his number, "I know you're okay."

Leaf's finger shook with every button she pressed, her heart beating faster and faster until finally…..the last button was pressed.

She was nervous; her hand shaking uncontrollably as she lifted the device to her ear to await a response.

*…* *…* *…*

There was nothing and just as Leaf was about to look and see if she'd dialed the number wrong...the coldest, most robotic voice echoed from the PokeNav and said the very words she feared.

*DUE TO POOR WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS NUMBER IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER*

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Further down the mountain, things had suddenly taken a turn for the worst as, in almost the blink of an eye, the dark threatening clouds that had seems so far off, rolled in much sooner than anticipated, bringing with them a wrath worthy of Arceus itself.

Before they knew it, the trio of Red, Pikachu and Mewtwo were pelted by a barrage of snow and ice as the wind howled around them.

"Piiiikkkkkaaaaa!" Pikachu groaned as it fought against the powerful wind.

" _Curse this blasted snow! I can't see a thing!_ " Mewtwo groaned as well while holding its arm over its eyes in an attempt to see where they were going.

However, it was to no avail. The snow would only fall faster, rapidly piling up around them and making it even harder for them to traverse the path.

" _Come on human! Stop falling behind!_ " Mewtwo yelled out as it slowly drudged forward.

For more times than they'd wished to count during this walk, the two Pokemon found themselves constantly having to stop for Red to catch up and Mewtwo was getting sick of it.

If they had just kept going at the same pace they were in the beginning, they'd surely have made it home by now.

" _I can't believe how weak this human is!"_ Mewtwo grumbled to itself, " _The weather may be bad, but it's not that cold out!_ "

Clearly having more compassion than its psychic counterpart, Pikachu turned around to see where Red was and thanks to how dense the snow had become, could barely see him slowly bringing up the rear.

Between the coldness of the wind, snow and temperature dropping from how late it was getting, Red was quickly realizing just how ill-equipped he was for this weather. His hands could barely grip onto the bags he was carrying, his feet felt like they had bricks attached to them and every breath of cold air he took stung his lungs raw, making it hard to breathe.

"Hah…..hah…..hah…."

Running as fast as it could through the accumulating snow; Pikachu made its way over to its trainer's side and saw just how bad of shape he was in.

His whole body was shivering and was struggling just to talk.

"P-p….pik…a…chu…." the tiny pokemon barely heard Red say, "K-k-k…eee…..ppp….g-g-go…..i…n..g…."

What happened then, Red could not explain, but all of a sudden, his breathing began to intensify.

"Hah…..Hah….Hah…Hah..Hah.. !"

He huffed over and over again in an attempt to catch his breath, but to no avail and then…..everything just stopped.

All of a sudden, Pikachu watched as the bags in Red's hands unceremoniously dropped to the ground, scattering their contents all over as his body lost all feeling.

"PIKA! PI!" it screamed as he then abruptly dropped to his knees, collapsing face first onto the ground.

* * *

Completely unaware of what was happening behind it; Mewtwo huffed as it attempted to figure out the way forward. " _Great….the whole path's covered in snow!_ " it angrily grumbled to itself, " _I swear this is the last time I ever trust that human again!_ "

"PIKA! PIKA!"

" _WHAT?!_ " Mewtwo harshly yelled back as the sound of Pikachu's shrill voice, caused it to lose focus. " _Quit that incessant yelling and come help me this instant!_ "

"PIKACHU!"

" _Wrong?!"_ the psychic Pokemon confusingly replied while spinning its head around to see what Pikachu was frantically shouting about, " _What do you mean something's wr-_ "

Nothing could prepare Mewtwo for what its eyes bore when it turned around. There, lying face-down in the snow before him was Red, his body not moving an inch as the harsh wind whipped around him.

" _Oh no…."_

Mewtwo froze, unsure how to proceed as it stared at the sight before it. This was the same human that fearlessly faced him down once before, he couldn't possibly be…..

In that moment, any and all distain Mewtwo may have had from today's events vanished and whether by instinct or choice, the psychic pokemon found itself floating over to the red-capped boy faster than his telekinetic powers had ever moved him before.

" _Young man!_ " it yelled as it hastened over to his side, " _YOUNG MAN!_ "

Mewtwo's whole body was shaking and not because it was cold; but because of something that, up until this point, it had never experienced: Fear.

Fear in regards to the condition of someone that….up until this point, it didn't even realize it even cared for.

" _What happened to him?!_ " the psychic Pokemon demanded, but Pikachu had no explanation to give.

Quickly kneeling down to Red's side, Mewtwo placed its hands on his limp body and gently turned him over.

" _Young man…."_ the psychic Pokémon spoke once again as it gave a slight shake to the red-capped boy's body. " _Do not tell me that you've let some frozen water get the best of you…._ "

There was still no response and perhaps it was due to the severity of the moment, but suddenly Mewtwo would say something that nobody thought would ever come out of its mouth.

"… _Red!"_ it desperately pleaded as it gave him another shake, " _Red….please….speak to me!_ "

Even Pikachu had to stare in shock at what was just said. Mewtwo had never addressed Red by his name before and perhaps it was due to that very miracle, which caused Red to faintly open his eyes.

"….mmmm…..eee..www…..ttttt…wwww.o…." his voice was weak, struggling to form even a single word before falling unconscious.

"… _..his life force is dwindling…._ " Mewtwo reluctantly revealed as he placed its hand over Red's forehead and turned to Pikachu, " _If we can't find a way to normalize his body temperature, he's not going to make it._ "

"Pika! Pi!" The tiny electrical pokemon quickly suggested, causing Mewtwo to give it a puzzled look in return.

" _A fire?_ " it scoffed at the idea, " _Do I LOOK like a fire-type to you?!_ "

Rolling its eyes, Pikachu thrusted its stubby arm forward, "PIKA!" it shouted and upon looking in the direction it was pointing, Mewtwo finally clued in.

" _Use the trees?_ " it said as looked towards the forest in front of them and slapped its head, " _Of course! How could I be so foolish?!_ "

Turning back to Red, Mewtwo once again passed its hand over his forehead to ensure he was okay, " _Be strong….we'll be right back!_ " it reassured as the two stood up and faced forest in front of them.

" _Alright! Let's do this!_ "

With a burning vigor in their hearts, the two pokemon rushed towards the forest at full speed. The desire to protect their trainer stimulating their resolve as Pikachu's tail suddenly morphed from yellow to a metallic chrome color while an intense blade of psychokinetic energy manifested in Mewtwo's hand.

"PIIIIIKKKAAA!"

"PSYCO-CUTTER!"

* * *

The two worked tirelessly, hacking and slashing at every tree in sight until finally, they collected what was believed to be a satisfying amount of wood to hold them over.

Their plan was simple: use Pikachu's Thunderbolt to ignite the wood and then Mewtwo would use its Barrier to keep the fire from going out.

Given how little time they had, it was the best course of action they could come up with and within a few short minutes of preparation, were ready to proceed.

" _Are you ready Pikachu?_ " Mewtwo called out as the electrical Pokemon nodded in response.

Then, raising its arms to the air, Pikachu summoned the biggest lightning bolt it could muster and shot it skyward. "PIIIKKKAACCHHHUUUU!" it yelled at the top of its lungs as the bolt came rocketing towards the ground….only to miss its target by a few feet.

Pikachu was stunned, never before had it been so inaccurate with its attacks when Red was commanding it.

" _Try it again!_ "

"CHUUU!" Pikachu yelled out once again, this time deciding to fire off multiple bolts in hopes that one would hit.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case as Mewtwo watched the lightning bolts strike all around them, one almost hitting Red in the process.

"CHUUUUUU!"

" _STOP! STOP!_ " Mewtwo demanded, shaking its head at what had just occurred, " _It's clear that this dense snow is making it impossible for you to aim your Thunderbolt…._ "

Disappointed in itself, Pikachu lowered its ears in shame. It had always taken pride in how well it could use its Thunderbolt and now, when it mattered most, it failed.

"UGGGHHHH….." they suddenly heard Red wince in pain and quickly ran back over to his side.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu desperately tried to call out to him while Mewtwo once again placed his hand over Red's forehead.

" _Blast it! If we don't do something quick he's not going to make it…._ " it noted as it anxiously looked back at the pile of wood.

With all of its intelligence, how could it not think of a way to start that fire? There had to be a way, there just had to be!

Perplexed, the psychic Pokemon nervously began to rub the bracelet Red had given it in thought.

" _How is it that this human is in such a state, yet Pikachu and I are just fine?_ " it pondered as it stared down at Red's shivering body, " _I know for a fact that our body compositions are not all that different, so how could we possibly-_ "

Mewtwo froze as it suddenly came to a realization, its eyes widening as it looked down at the bracelet on its arm.

" _It…can't….be…."_

Wondering what was going on, Pikachu watched in disbelief as, without warning, Mewtwo suddenly ripped the flame orb bracelet off its arm, immediately wincing in pain the second it was removed from its body.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu cried out in concern as Mewtwo collapsed to the ground.

" _Ugggghhhh….of….course…..it….all….makes…..sense…now…"_ it noted as the harsh cold wind began to pierce its body, " _It….wasn't Red being a human that made him susceptible to this cold…it was these bracelets that were keeping us warm….._ "

Immediately, Mewtwo stuck its hand out, " _Pikachu! Quick! Hand me your bracelet!_ " it suddenly exclaimed, " _I know how we can light that fire!_ "

Still completely confused as to what was going on, Pikachu did as it was told. If the psychic Pokémon had a plan, it was going to trust it.

Unhooking the bracelet from the back of its neck, Pikachu quickly realized why Mewtwo reacted the way it did as a blast of cold air suddenly overcame it. "Piiiikkkkaaa!" the tiny pokemon cried out before hurryingly passing its bracelet over.

Putting its plan into action, Mewtwo threw the two bracelets on top of the wood pile and staggered to its feet. " _Okay! Now stand back!_ " it exclaimed to the electrical Pokémon as it extended its hand out.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Gripping its hand down, Mewtwo crushed the two flame orbs with its psychic powers causing a spectacular burst of fire to erupt as they were freed from their glass casing.

Acting fast, the psychic Pokémon immediately raised its hand skyward, forming a protective force field around the 3 of them and the fire in the process. " _There….my Barrier should keep us protected from the wind and snow._ " it explained as it rushed over to Red's side, " _Hurry! Help me bring him over to the fire!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the house, any and all festivities had completely ground to a halt as all the Pokemon were now worryingly looking out a nearby window. Snow had begun intensely falling from the sky and Red was still nowhere in sight as it quickly piled up around them.

Watching as this all unfolded in front of it, Jigglypuff lowered its eyes, hoping that any minute Red, Pikachu and Mewtwo would show up. "Jiggly…." it sighed as it rested its head against Clefable's body. Not only was it worried about its missing friends, but Leaf as well.

Ever since she'd been unable to contact Red, the brunette haired girl stated that she would call around and see if anyone could help her search for the three of them.

However, that was well over an hour ago and just as Jigglypuff was about to get up and go find her, its eyes immediately widened in shock as Leaf suddenly came barreling into the living room decked out in full snow gear.

"Jigglypuff! Jigglypuff!" it immediately protested knowing exactly what Leaf was intending to do, but the brunette haired girl would hear nothing of it.

"Sorry Jigglypuff, but I'm not waiting any longer!" she exclaimed more serious than the pink Pokémon had ever heard her talk before, "I've tried calling everyone I could and none of my calls would go through!"

With that, Leaf looked forward, her eyes burning with intensity. "I….I have no choice….." she nervously sputtered before straightening up and passionately declaring, "I'm going out to find them!"

The Pokémon all stared in shock as Leaf walked up to Articuno and petted the side of its face, "Articuno, I'm going to need your help navigating through this blizzard." she stated, before asking, "Will you come with me?"

Being the one responsible for warning Leaf about the blizzard, Articuno was more than happy to assist its trainer and rubbed its head against hers to let her know it was on board.

However, Leaf knew that Articuno alone would not be enough and as such, turned to her next candidate, "…and Moltres, will you also come to keep me warm?"

The mystic bird of fire cautiously looked over at Articuno. Unlike its icy counterpart, Moltres wasn't too well versed in traveling through blizzards. However, knowing that Leaf would probably freeze to death if it didn't, Moltres quickly conceded to her wish.

* * *

With her team ready and not wanting to waste anymore time, Leaf quickly zipped up her coat as they prepared to head out.

"Alright! We'll be ba-"

"ROOOAARRRR!"

From behind, Red's Charizard suddenly called out and upon turning around, Leaf saw it sadly looking at her, wondering why it hadn't been chosen to join in this recuse mission as well.

"It's going to be rough out there Charizard, I didn't know if your tail could handle it." Leaf attempted to explain. However, no sooner did those words leave her mouth and the flame on Charizard's tail suddenly lit up in a fiery passion. More ever, it was than ready to help its trainer in his time of need and no blizzard was going to stop it.

"ROOOAAARRRRRR!" it cried out once again and amused by its confidence, Leaf finally conceded.

"Okay! Okay!" she giggled as it continued to show off, "You're with us too!"

Happy that it was finally on the team, Charizard walked over to where Articuno and Moltres were standing with Leaf following not far behind.

"Alright! The rest of you, stay here and keep warm!" she ordered to the other Pokemon, "One way or another, we'll bring those three back! You can be sure of tha…"

Leaf paused as she felt something grab hold of her leg, a soft touch that she was all too familiar with.

"Jiggly…."

She looked down and saw that Jigglypuff had its arms wrapped tightly around her leg. After all the years of pain, homelessness and near death experiences the two had shared over the years, it was clear that the pink pokemon didn't want to see the brunette haired girl putting herself in harm's way once again and Leaf knew that.

Feeling its body worryingly shake against her leg, Leaf's eyes softened as she slowly knelt down to its level.

"I know….I thought our days of spending Christmas in the cold were done too…." she softly spoke to her pink partner, "But….I love those three too much to just sit around and do nothing…."

Jigglypuff stared into its trainer's eyes. Right now, she seemed like a completely different person.

No longer was she the reckless girl who ran from the law and stole from others, she'd matured and as Leaf knelt there smiling at it, Jigglypuff was suddenly overcome with emotion.

"Jiggly!" it cried out as it lunged towards Leaf and hugged her tight.

"I know….I know…..I love you too…." she whispered as it openly wept into her shoulder, "…and I promise….I WILL bring them back…."

* * *

Everyone was overcome with emotion as they huddled around Leaf before seeing her off and then, with Charizard, Moltres and Articuno by her side, the four exited the house, prepared to face the elements before them.

"Okay guys, remember, no heroics, we stick together!" Leaf stated as she mounted herself on the back of Moltres.

The three pokemon all nodded in agreement, confusingly tilting their heads as she suddenly covered her mouth and started giggling out loud. "Hee! Hee! Sorry!" she snorted before straightening up, "I just always wanted to say that!"

With that, the 4 took off into the raging blizzard, their destination being the very last place Red told them he would be at...the mall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, under the light glow of a crackling fire sat Pikachu and Mewtwo. Beside them lay Red, who despite still being unconscious, seemed to be improving thanks to their efforts.

" _Good….his lifeforce appears to be stabilizing…."_ the psychic Pokémon happily noted as he scanned his hand over Red's forehead, " _He should be okay providing we can endure this storm…._ "

It's words brought a smile to Pikachu's face as Mewtwo threw its hand up, renewing its Barrier before taking a seat beside the electrical pokemon and stretching out.

Never in its life did the psychic Pokémon ever imagine something like this would happen; having to take care of a human with a tiny mouse pokemon serving as its companion.

The thought baffled Mewtwo to no end and as it looked over at Red sleeping so peacefully, it had to laugh. " _This human is really something else, isn't he?_ " it joked as Pikachu happily nodded in response, " _You know…..when I first met this young man…..he put his life on the line….just to give me ...a second chance at life._ "

* * *

 ***FLASHBACK***

" _ **Such beautiful resolve…."**_ **Mewtwo remembered saying as Red stood alone before him,** _ **"To throw away your life…..for a friend."**_

" **Like I said, today's not my day to die!" the red-capped boy's voice intensely echoed in response.**

" _ **Hmm?**_ **"**

 **Much to Mewtwo's surprise, instead of running as he'd expected, Red instead extended his hand. "How about it Mewtwo?" he sincerely offered to it, "After all this time….after all this pain….it's not too late….I'd like to give you a second chance."**

* * *

Mewtwo sighed as the memory played over and over in its head. It couldn't believe that even to this day, Red was still working to change its life for the better.

" _After everything I put him through today….he was still willing to put our safety above his own…._ " Mewtwo noted before turning to Pikachu and cheekily adding, _"….this human's quite the fool isn't he?_ "

"Pika…pika…." Pikachu laughed in response before nestling its head beside Red and closing its eyes.

" _True…I suppose he is….our fool….._ " Mewtwo sighed in agreement and with a slight smile on its face, happily whispered.

"… _.and I wouldn't have it any other way."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Miles below, at the base of Mt. Silver, Leaf had made her way to the mall and was frantically searching the grounds for her red-capped partner. "RED! RED!" she yelled out in vain, "MEWTWO! PIKACHU! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!"

Much to Leaf's dismay, the mall and everything surrounding it was like a ghost town. Everything was completely shut tight; meaning that there was no way Red could possibly be inside.

"Ughhh…." she groaned as a huge blast of cold wind and snow pierced her body. Despite all her snow gear, it was still intensely cold outside and as quick as they could, Moltres and Charizard moved in close to keep her warm.

"Thanks guys…" she panted as they watched Articuno land in front of them. "Did you see anything on the other side Articuno?"

The mystic bird shook its head causing Leaf to sigh in response. It was as she thought, Red wasn't here, but then the question remained: Where could they have gone?

Leaf doubted they would have taken shelter with someone; otherwise Red would have used a PC or some other means to contact her.

" _Where could they be?_ " she pondered and upon turning her head toward the mountain, Leaf froze as a possibility crossed her head, " _They wouldn't have…._ "

The memory was weak, but Leaf vaguely remembered Red raving about some trail that lead to the base of Mt. Silver and sighed as the other pokemon turned to the mountain as well.

If they really did what she thought they did, this search mission just got a whole lot harder.

"Red…..what were you thinking….."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hah…hah…hah…"

Mewtwo breathed heavily, the cold air stinging its lungs as it breathed in.

After at least 20 renewals of its Barrier, the psychic Pokémon was completely drained of its energy and could only watch as its final barrier began to fade away.

It's plan had failed. Any hopes of riding out the storm were completely dashed as the cold wind began to seep through, biting at every part of its body as it did.

Next to it, Pikachu was no longer moving, no doubt frozen from the cold and Red was thankfully still unconscious.

With no power left to spend, it was becoming more and more inevitable to the psychic Pokémon that end was drawing near. It could barely move and as it struggled to breathe, Mewtwo took one last moment to reflect on the past events that had brought it to this state.

" _H….H….How….ironic…is…this?_ " it curiously pondered as the cold wind began to overtake it, " _After all my years of….despising humans….here I am….about to die…..trying to protect one…._ "

The thought caused Mewtwo to chuckle to itself as it looked over at Red. He looked so peaceful despite how cold he must have been and for what it was worth, it gave Mewtwo comfort in what would potentially be its final moments.

* * *

 ***FLASHBACK***

" **Hey Mewtwo! You should get in on this hug too!" the sound of Leaf's voice played out in the psychic Pokémon's head as it recalled the first day it became an official member of this team.**

" _ **Umm…well…**_ **"**

 **Red laughed as he extended his arm. "Come on Mewtwo! You're a member of this family now too!"**

" _ **R-really?**_ **" Mewtwo couldn't believe what it was hearing, "** _ **You…really convinced them to let me stay with you?**_ **"**

" **Yep! I got it all cleared up with the league!" Red proudly proclaimed, "Starting today, you're now one of us!"**

" _ **So…we're always going to be together?**_ **"**

 **Leaf giggled as she nudged it in the side. "Yep! You're stuck with us! For life!"**

* * *

" _If our lives do end today, I want you to know that I appreciate everything you've done…..you've really changed my outlook on life…._ " Mewtwo openly admitted to the unconscious red-capped boy beside it, " _You and her both….._ "

Then….like all its dormant synapses simultaneously fired at once, Mewtwo's eyes suddenly went wide.

There WAS someone else, someone it had a bond with, someone it could call out to.

"… _..her….."_

It was a long shot, but it had to try. Right now there was only one person Mewtwo could put its trust in and with its energy slowly fading, chose to reach out to her.

"… _..Leaf…"_ it faintly beckoned as it tried to extend its hand out, _"…..Leaf…..please…..hear my voice…"_

"… _we…..need…you…"_

With the last of its energy spent, Mewtwo's arm flopped to its side as its eyes slowly fluttered closed. It had done all it could and now everything rested in the hands of a particular brunette haired girl.

One that, little did they know, was flying not too far away.

* * *

 **Oooooh! Damn me and my cliffhangers! (Although...you probably know whats going to happen)**

 **Hey! I finally managed to get something done on time! (I know I can't believe it either!). Hopefully the next one shouldn't take too long either. As for timing wise...there's 5 more weeks till Christmas so I'm either going to do the next 2 chapters two and a half weeks apart or do a 2/3 week spilt...haven't decided, but it will be done on time :)**

 **Thank you once again for all your kind words and I will see you next time**

 **Ciao!**


	4. Home is Where the Heart is

Chapter 4: Home is Where the Heart is

High above the skies of Mt. Silver, Leaf, Moltres, Articuno and Charizard flew tirelessly in an effort to locate their missing comrades.

Unfortunately, while Leaf may have known about the existence of the trail that Red potentially took, she still no way of knowing if that was actually where he was and thanks to the current conditions, simply trying to locate the trail was almost impossible.

On top of the dense snow blinding them as it fell from the sky, there was also the issue of the trail being surrounded by a forest, making it so that the four couldn't fly very close to the ground.

As such, all they could do was just keep flying around, squinting as they tried to locate any sign of Red, Pikachu and Mewtwo, but to no avail and it was beginning to get to the point that they wondered if they'd ever find their missing friends.

However, no matter how much doubt seeped its way into her heart, Leaf was not about to give up. Deep down, she knew that if their roles were reversed, Red would brave whatever element he had to in order to find her and for that reason, she could never give up on him.

"C-come on! L-Let's take another pass around!" she sternly ordered to the other Pokemon, but even Leaf couldn't hide the stammer that the cold had brought on.

Despite equipping herself with as much snow gear as she could before leaving, it wasn't enough as the frigidness of the cold wind was only amplified as they flew through the air and not even riding on Moltres could negate it.

On top of hearing the stammering of her voice, the mystic bird of fire could also feel Leaf's body begin to shiver as she pressed up against it and quickly turned its head towards her in concern.

"I-I'm fine Moltres…really…." she defiantly reassured the mystic bird, "W-we need to keep looking!"

Although becoming increasingly concerned about her condition, Moltres did as Leaf ordered and was about to turn around for another pass when all of a sudden….

"… _..Leaf…_ "

No sooner did they turn around and Leaf could have sworn she heard someone call her name.

"Hey?" she confusingly asked Moltres, "Did you hear something?"

Unsure what she was talking about, the mystic bird of fire shook its head in response and just as Leaf began to wonder if the cold weather was starting to drive her crazy, it happened again.

" _Leaf…..please….hear….me….._ " it rang out much clearer this time, _"….we…..need…..you….."_

There was no denying it, Leaf was definitely hearing a voice calling her name and took a minute for it to finally register.

"T-that's!"

"… _.we…..need…..you….."_

"It's Mewtwo!"

No sooner did she say that and Moltres head perked up, only to be met with Leaf shaking her hands at it.

"Hang on Moltres!" she stated as she tried to explain the situation, "I think I may have a way of finding out where they are!"

Leaf was frantic. Could Mewtwo really be trying to make contact with her? She didn't have any time to think and quickly closed her eyes in an attempt to return its plea.

" _Mewtwo…._ " she called out in her mind.

There was no response and as the wind howled around her, Leaf closed her eyes even tighter in an attempt to focus.

" _Mewtwo….I can hear you….can you hear me?_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Far below, with snow rapidly piling up around it, Mewtwo lay nearly immobilized by the cold.

It had done everything it could and with its body barely functioning of its own will, it slowly began closing its eyes, succumbing to the darkness that awaited it.

That was until…

" _Mewtwo…._ "

Its journey to the world beyond was interrupted by what sounded like a faint voice calling its name.

" _Mewtwo…._ " the voice was like a light shining in the darkness, " _Where are you…..we're trying to find you….._ "

There was no denying it, Mewtwo had heard that distinct feminine voice so many times that there was no question as to who it belonged to.

"… _Leaf?"_

The psychic Pokemon couldn't believe it. Somehow, somehow, it had managed to reach the brunette haired girl and more importantly, she was out looking for them.

Summoning whatever strength it could muster, Mewtwo reached its hand out. If their bond was true, it should be able to sense her lifeforce and judge how far away she was.

" _Yes…I can feel your presence nearby…."_ the psychic Pokémon replied, its hand shaking as it struggled to even lift it, " _Hurry….Red's in bad shape….and my energy's very low….._ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the skies above Mt. Silver, Leaf had relayed Mewtwo's message to the other Pokémon and were frantically looking around to no avail. Despite Mewtwo saying it was "nearby" not even Articuno's vision could help them at their current altitude and thanks to that forest, they couldn't fly any lower.

"Ughhhh!" Leaf groaned in frustration. She knew they were close and yet had no way of seeing them.

" _Mewtwo….I can't see in all this snow….."_ she attempted to explain to the psychic Pokémon, _"….is there any way you can send me some kind of signal….."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the ground, Mewtwo groaned as Leaf's request rang out in its head.

" _A…signal….._ "

The psychic Pokémon sighed. Even if Leaf was close, it didn't factor in that the densely falling snow would make it almost impossible for her to find them.

Given the circumstances, it knew there was only one way to alert Leaf to their presence and was currently struggling to raise its arm to do so.

" _I'll….give….you….your….signal….._ "

Never before had it felt so weak. Right now its arm felt like it weighed a ton, but it had to do it and with its arm raised as far as it could, formed the biggest Shadow Ball it could muster with its remaining strength.

" _I…..have….one…..shot…..at…..this…."_ it struggled to say as the Shadow Ball sapped more and more of its energy, " _Pray….you…see…..this…."_

With every fiber in its body working at once, Mewtwo fired it off, its eyes glistening from the ball's light as it rocketed skyward.

" _It's….done…._ "

After a few short pants, the psychic Pokemon's entire body went limp, its arm flopping to its side as it collapsed unceremoniously on the ground.

" _Our….fate….is….your….hands…now…..Leaf….Gr…ee…n_."

With those last words, Mewtwo faded out of consciousness, hopeful that its efforts would be seen before it was too late.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anxiously awaiting Mewtwo's signal, Leaf rapidly glanced around, not knowing what exactly to expect.

*BANG*

All of a sudden, a loud noise rang out and in the distance, a flash of purple lit up the night sky.

That was it! That was the signal she was waiting for.

"There they are!" Leaf yelled, thrusting arm forward out as Moltres, Charizard and Articuno flew as fast as they could in the direction she was pointing.

"Go straight and fly low!"

Knowing that there must be a break in the forest, the three Pokemon did as they were told and upon realizing that it was clear, quickly began scanning the surface for their missing comrades.

"Come on…." Leaf anxiously muttered, "I know you're around here somewh-"

"CUOOOO!"

Everyone stopped as Articuno loudly called out. Its keen eyes had finally spotted them and as they got closer, the distinct outline of three figures could be seen lying in the snow.

Unable to wait for Moltres to even land, the minute they flew overhead, Leaf jumped 3 feet off its back onto the snowy ground and began hastily running towards them as fast as her feet could carry her.

"Red! RED!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "MEWTWO! PIKACHU!"

Leaf looked on in horror at the scene in front of her. All three of them were motionless, sprawled out on the ground with what appeared to be the remains of a fire in front of them.

"Oh my god….."

Running up to her red capped partner, Leaf watched as Charizard, Moltres and Articuno landed in front her.

"ROOOAARRRRRR!" Red's fire-type pokemon cried out as it ran over and knelt down beside him in a panic.

"Okay, Charizard! You stay here and warm Red up with your flame!" Leaf ordered before turning to Moltres and adding "…..and Moltres go help out Pikachu and Mewtwo!"

* * *

The two Pokemon did as they were told and not too long after their bodies had been warmed, Leaf watched as Mewtwo and Pikachu slowly began to stir.

"Ughhh…." the psychic Pokémon groaned as it slowly regained consciousness.

"Mewtwo!" Leaf cried out, bracing it from behind as it tried to sit up.

Slowly but surely, Mewtwo opened its eyes and while it was blurry at first, they finally adjusted to see a familiar face looking over at it, smiling with relief. " _I….never thought I'd be so happy to see you…."_ it jokingly muttered as Leaf giggled in response.

"The feeling's mutual sweetie." she sarcastically replied before reaching into her jacket and pulling out a bottle filled with blue liquid, "Here….drink this."

" _What…are you…..trying….to feed me this time?"_

"A full restore mixed with an ice heal and some crushed revives." Leaf quickly explained as she unscrewed the cap off, "It should help you feel better."

Against its better judgment, Mewtwo had no choice but to drink the strange liquid and the minute it did, a horrible burning sensation suddenly enveloped all of its internal organs. It was the most bizarre feeling the psychic Pokémon had ever experienced, but much to its surprise….it felt better.

It took some time but Mewtwo could finally begin moving its arms again and upon turning around, saw that Leaf was no longer helping it to sit upright.

Instead, she had now moved on to his small yellow companion and currently had him cradled in her arms as she held the bottle up to its mouth.

"Here Pikachu…." she whispered as she poured the rest of the liquid in its mouth and watched as it slowly opened its eyes.

"P-pika….." it faintly responded as it slowly began to feel strength returning as well.

Slowly rising to its feet, Mewtwo watched as Leaf then rushed over to Red's side and quickly followed suit.

Despite being warmed by Charizard's tail, there had been no sign of movement from the red-capped boy since they'd arrived and the fire Pokemon was growing increasingly worried with every second that passed. "Roarrr….." it sadly called out as it bent down and attempted to nuzzle its trainer awake but to no avail.

Quickly kneeling down to Red's level as she made her way over, Leaf's breathing intensified as she began checking him over. Unlike the Pokémon, there was no quick cure that she could bring for her red-capped partner and upon closer inspection, realized just how weak his breathing had become.

"Red…." Leaf whispered before turning to Charizard and asking, "Has he stirred at all Charizard?"

The fire Pokemon sadly shook its head as everyone else came running over.

"Pika! Pi!" Pikachu cried out as attempted to shake him awake.

"… _he's been unconscious for the longest of us…."_ Mewtwo revealed to Leaf as it floated up behind her, " _I_ _cannot say just how much damage he's sustained…._ "

Not about to give up on him after everything she'd endured, Leaf breathed deeply as she placed her hands on Red's shoulders. "Red…Red…It's me…..it's Leaf….." she pleaded as she took one of his hands and clasped it around her own, "Come on….don't do this to me now….give me something to let me know you're alright…."

Leaf called and called, but Red would not open his eyes and just when she thought all hope was lost…she felt it.

It was faint and if Leaf wasn't paying close attention, she may not have realized it, but after endlessly pleading for him to give her a sign, Leaf suddenly felt Red's hand squeeze her own.

It may not have been much, but it was enough to give her the hope she needed and responded by gently kissing it in return.

"Okay…." she whispered as she clasped his hand even tighter, "It's okay….we're going home now….."

She didn't want to let him go, but knowing that Red would be safer if he was carried, turned to Charizard and asked, "Charizard are you going to be okay carrying him home?"

The fire Pokemon quickly nodded in response and Leaf watched as it gently bent down to pick him up.

"Okay! Everybody else with me!" she called out as she picked up Pikachu and placed it inside her jacket for warmth.

"Comfortable Pikachu?"

"Pika….." it happily responded as the two made their way over to Moltres and Articuno.

Not wanting to waste any time, Leaf quickly crawled up onto Moltres back as Mewtwo came floating up beside them.

"Come on Mewtwo! Hop up!"

Knowing that there was no better alternative, Mewtwo glided its way onto the back of the mystic bird, taking a seat right behind Leaf as it did. " _Just so we're clear Moltres."_ it stated as it wrapped its arms around Leaf's waist, " _The fact that I'm riding on you stays strictly between the two of us!_ "

Slowly glancing back, the mystic bird of fire let out a small huff of embers in response as if to sarcastically say "Yeah right!" to the psychic Pokemon.

Making sure everyone was okay, Leaf straightened up. "Okay! We're all set!" she reassured before intensely thrusting her finger forward and exclaiming, "Lead us home Articuno!"

With that, the three flying pokemon rose from the ground and took off into the night sky.

After a long and strenuous search, they had done it, everyone was now back together and even though Leaf had so many questions on her mind, they would have to wait as right now, there was only one thing mattered to her.

They were finally going home.

* * *

While this was occurring, Red remained unconscious. His discovery, the flight home, he wasn't aware of any of it. All he knew…..was blackness.

Blackness that, for an unprecedented amount of time, was all that was present in his world. There were no dreams, no nightmares, just an endless void for as long as he could recall.

However, just as quick as the darkness came about, there was suddenly a light. It was faint at first, but slowly it grew and grew until suddenly…..he could feel again.

Granted this feeling wasn't very ideal. All at once, Red's body began shaking as an immense throbbing sensation began emanating from his head.

However, amongst all the horrible feelings, there was one that stood out from all the rest, one that he hadn't felt in what seemed like an eternity.

…..warmth.

* * *

"Hmm….hmmm?"

Slowly, he opened his eyes to a blur of orange and reds. What kind of place he had woken up in? It definitely felt….soft…

"W-what…." he spoke, almost inaudibly as his vision started coming into focus, " _W-where….where am I…._ "

Red paused, that warmth he'd been feeling was coming from the lower half of his body and upon lifting his head up, was met with a very familiar sight.

There, knelt down beside him was a girl he knew all too well. Her head gently resting against his thigh as she snored very lightly.

" _….Leaf?_ "

It was in that moment, that all the pieces suddenly fell into place. The mysterious place Red had woken up in was none other than his house and upon quickly glancing around, found that he was currently lying on the couch in the living room with a multitude of blankets covering his body.

Drawing his attention back to the brunette haired girl in front of him, Red slowly reached one of his hands out from under the blanket and touched her shoulder.

"L…e..a…f?"

His voice was very hoarse as he attempted to call out and when she didn't respond, Red decided to give her a slight shake.

"Hey….Leaf….."

After a few more shakes, the brunette haired girl's eyes slowly began to flutter open.

"R…e…d…?" she mumbled and as her vision finally came into focus, Leaf's eyes went wider than he had ever seen, "RED!"

Without warning, she lunged towards him, embracing him in the tightest hug he'd ever felt from her.

"A…h…h….." he gasped, completely caught off-guard as she proceeded to hug him tighter and tighter.

He had no idea what was going on, but knew enough that, whatever it was had made Leaf concerned and in turn, gently wrapped his arms around her as well, closing his eyes as he did.

"Leaf….."

* * *

The two would embrace for what felt like an eternity before Leaf finally pulled back, her eyes tearing up with emotion.

"You….you moron! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!" she lectured before touching the side of his face with her hand, "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

Red blushed as he felt her hand glide down his face. "Umm…." he pondered, still trying to piece together everything that was going on and with no idea what to really say, answered her as honestly as he could, "W-well….my throats a little dry…."

Quickly nodding to his request, Leaf sprung to her feet. "Okay! I'll be right back!" she exclaimed before darting into the kitchen.

Red watched as she took off before slowly trying to sit up. Every muscle in his body felt so stiff and he groaned as he finally sat up and began looking around, only to see all 11 Pokemon lying on the floor around him.

They were all fast asleep and as his eyes glanced over, Red noticed his yellow partner sleeping on the armrest right behind him.

"Pik..ac…hu?"

Despite his hoarse voice, the electrical Pokemon must have heard him as the second he called out to it, Pikachu's eyes began fluttering open. "Pi….ka…." it muttered as Red gave it a gentle scratch on the head.

"Hey….buddy….."

It's vision finally coming into focus, Pikachu's eyes widened as it saw Red sitting there with a smile on his face. "Pika! Pi!" it cried out, lunging forward and embracing its trainer as fast as it could.

Red smiled as he gently embraced it back. He may not have remembered everything that happened, but he definitely remembered that Pikachu was with him.

"I'm glad you're safe…." he whispered, sighing with relief as Leaf came running back into the living room with a glass of water in her hand.

"Here," she stated as Red graciously accepted the drink.

"Thanks."

In no time flat, Red quickly downed the entire glass of water, relieved to finally take care of his dry throat. However, he was still quite puzzled as to what had happened and upon lowering his glass, saw Leaf and Pikachu staring at him with concern.

"What happened Leaf?" Red finally asked as he stressfully rubbed his temple, "The last thing I remember…I was walking through the snow…..then…..everything…."

"Red…you passed out from the cold…." Leaf reluctantly explained causing the red-capped boy to give her a confused look as she did, "I…had to come find you."

Red's eyes widened. "Y-you-" he paused, there were so many questions racking his brain and had to refrain from asking them all at once, "H-how did ever find us?"

He watched as Leaf chuckled, rolling her eyes skyward as she did. "Ooohhhh….." she rolled her tongue as she turned and finally revealed, "….you can thank your new FRIEND for that."

"…..friend?"

Turning his head in the direction Leaf was looking revealed Mewtwo standing there with its back against the wall and arms crossed.

" _I'm glad to see you're awake._ " it telepathically greeted in his head, _"…..my co-trainer._ "

"Mewtwo and Pikachu took care of you after you fell unconscious." Leaf explained as she walked over and gave the psychic Pokémon a pat on the shoulder, "It was because of Mewtwo's telepathic powers that I was able to find you."

She then drew Red's attention to the other Pokémon asleep on the floor and added. "They've all been at your side ever since I brought you home."

Looking out at the other Pokémon, Red was at a loss for words. "Y-you guys…." he bashfully stated as Pikachu happily jumped up and down in his lap.

"Pika! Pi!"

"… _.I couldn't just leave you lying there in the snow._ " Mewtwo noted as it grabbed Red's favorite hat off a nearby table and held it out towards him, " _Next time we decide to walk a trail, I suggest you wear more appreciate attire_."

Staring at his hat as it was presented to him, Red chuckled as he looked up at Mewtwo. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks," he sarcastically noted as he accepted his hat back from the psychic Pokémon.

* * *

By this time, all of the other Pokemon had finally stirred from their sleep and one by one, made their way over to Red, each giving him a welcome back nuzzle as they did.

"Jiggly!"

"Aww...thanks Jigglypuff!" Red happily exclaimed as the pink Pokemon nuzzled the side of his face, "I really missed you too!"

Watching as the two embraced, Leaf sighed, unable to stop smiling the entire time. Finally, Red was truly home and even though she wasn't sure if he was ready to start answering her questions, Leaf really needed to know the answer to the biggest question currently on her mind.

"Red….just….what were you thinking?" she asked as Red placed Jigglypuff on the ground, "It's not like you to do something so….risky."

She watched as his happy demeanor, suddenly turned serious as he grasped his head in thought. His reason was definitely foolish, but it was the best course of action at the time. "Well….after hearing about the blizzard, we found out that all the cabs were running behind and after realizing that the phone's weren't working, I suggested that we walk the trail in hopes of making it back before the storm hit…." he explained the best he could before looking Leaf in the eye and revealing, "More than anything….I wanted to make it back so I could see your pretty face when you opened your-"

All of a sudden Red's eyes widened.

"W-Wait! Where are all the presents I bought?!"

"P-presents?"

"Yeah the ones I was carrying!" he panicked as he began frantically searching about, "Is Leaf's present okay?!"

Everyone watched as he helplessly looked around, confused as to what he was talking about.

"Red….I didn't see any presents when I found you…." Leaf finally spoke up before turning to the three Pokemon that accompanied her and asked, "Did you guys see anything?"

Articuno, Moltres and Charizard all shook their heads in unison and watched as Red's face suddenly turned pale.

If Leaf and the others didn't see anything when they came to find him that must mean that the presents were still…..

"….Red?"

Concerned, Leaf reached forward to comfort him, only for him to suddenly spring to his feet.

"…there's still time!" he suddenly declared and Leaf recoiled in shock as, without warning, he hastily stormed out of the living room and into the main foyer.

"R-red!" she yelled out and quickly giving chase, she and the other Pokemon followed after him, only to see him scrambling to put his jacket on the minute they stepped into the foyer.

"What are you doing?!"

"The storm's calmed down right?" he stated as he zipped up his jacket and placed his hand on the front door's knob, "If I hurry I may be able to-"

"RED! NO!" Leaf screamed as she grabbed onto his shoulder.

"PIKA! PI!"

Everyone was shouting at him, but Red had to block them out. In his mind, Red had to do this, he promised everyone the perfect Christmas and no matter how weak he felt, he HAD to find those presents.

Hastily opening the door, he looked out over the snow-laden landscape and was just about to step out when all of sudden he heard a voice unexpectedly call out to him.

" _Red….don't bother…._ " the voice echoed in his head, " _You know as well as I do that….whatever was spilled back there is now lost underneath several layers of snow….._ "

Its words stopped Red cold. "…..lost…." he muttered as he slowly turned around to see Mewtwo standing in a corner with its head hung low.

" _I'm sorry….."_

The psychic Pokémon watched as its red-capped trainer just helplessly stared at him without moving an inch, not wanting to believe for a second that after everything they'd endured today...it was all for nothing.

Swiftly turning back around, Red took another look at the snowy landscape before him. It was pitch dark with only the light from the house illuminating what Mewtwo claimed and it wasn't wrong. Snow had accumulated all around them and just trying to get out of the house would be a challenge, let alone, finding the presents.

"Red?" Leaf called out as he stood there with his head hung low and watched as he slowly closed the door and shuffled over to a nearby chair.

* * *

He looked completely crushed and upon sitting down, sighed as he buried his face in his hands.

"Red….it's okay."

Slowly kneeling down in front of him, Leaf placed her hand on his knee in an attempt to console him, but was only met with Red shaking his head in frustration. "No! No….it's not okay…." he upsettingly stated, "You were so excited about this being your first Christmas and I wanted to make it really special by finding you the perfect gift…."

Leaf watched as he sadly looked up at her, his voice distorted as he tried to fight back the emotions welling up inside.

"I…..I….looked for so long…"

" _I can vouch for him…he really did…_ " Mewtwo noted as he floated up beside Leaf causing the brunette haired girl to sadly look over at Red in return.

"Red…."

"I knew…I knew when I realized the PokeNav wasn't working that I should have thought of a better way of contacting you!" he openly chastised himself, punching his knee in frustration the more he thought about it, "But no….of course I was stupid and decided toTtake that damn trail!"

" _Hey! That's not true young man!"_ Mewtwo quickly spoke up in his defense, " _The three of us all agreed to that choice and you know that!_ "

"Pika! Pika!"

Red shook his head again. "Yes! But you were still under my care….my responsibility…..and yet not only did I put you two in harms way, but Leaf, Charizard, Moltres and Articuno as well!" he stated as he suddenly looked up with an intense look in his eye, "The whole reason we even took that trail, to begin with, was to avoid Leaf having to go out in that blizzard and yet she still did anyway!"

"Well hot-head, unlike YOU I actually had a plan for what I was doing!" Leaf quickly rebutted, crossing her arms as she did, "Which is funny because I'm usually the one recklessly running into things while you're all about planning things out."

She was only trying to make light of the situation, but little did Leaf realize that her words would set something off in Red as he suddenly rose to his feet. "You don't get it Leaf! If something happened to you I would never forgive myself!" he sternly yelled at her, "Now look what's happened!"

Frustrated, all Red's emotions all came pouring out at once. "I lost everyone's gifts! We have no holiday Farfetched for tomorrow's dinner and it's all my fault!" his voice petered the more he realized how much he'd messed up, "I….I….promised you all the best Christmas ever and….I failed you….."

His whole body began quivering as he collapsed back into the chair, tears steadily falling down his cheeks as he did.

"I'm….I'm….so…..so sorry….."

He buried his face in his hands and try as she might, Leaf just could not get him to stop crying. Normally, Red was always so calm and collected when it came to his emotions and seeing him like this really caught her off-guard.

Should she say something to comfort him? If so what should she say?

As much as Leaf hated to admit it, she wasn't very good when it came to situations like this.

In her mind, after all the disappointments she'd experienced in the past, losing a few presents didn't seem like that big of a deal to her, but it clearly meant something to Red.

Ever since the holiday started, he'd been working tirelessly, making sure everything was perfect and he was doing it all for her sake.

That's why Leaf couldn't fathom why he was so upset….because she'd never considered herself anything that special…..but Red clearly did.

Up until this point, he was always the one comforting her when she was down or upset, always the one that was trying to make her happy….and now it was time for her to step up and there for him.

* * *

Knowing that there wasn't anything she could say that would make him feel better, Leaf knelt down to Red's level and without saying a word, simply threw her arms around him.

"You know….Jigglypuff and I spent last Christmas curled up on the floor of a local shelter because the guy I was staying with at the time told me that I had outlived my purpose and threw me out." she openly whispered to him, "I was cold and all I could think about was just how much I wanted to end my life because I never thought it would ever get any better…"

With that, Leaf slowly released him from her grip and leaned back to face him. "…so…..if you honestly believe that I'm upset because you lost a few presents…..you could not be more wrong….." she stated as she slowly caressed his cheek, "…..because you gave me the greatest gift I could ever ask for….one that I'll always treasure….."

Clasping one of his hands in her own, Red watched as she began gliding it down her body until placing it firmly over her heart.

"…..and as long as we have this….I don't need any presents."

Red was stunned. Never before had he ever heard such beautiful words and to hear them come out of Leaf's mouth of all people, completely mesmerized him.

His mouth quivered wildly as he sat there in silence, unable to stop the tears following down his cheeks as she gave him the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen.

"Oh…Leaf…"

Without warning and before Leaf could even react, Red suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her tighter than she'd ever felt before.

"I love you…."

Her eyes widened as those words escaped from his mouth. It was said so suddenly that it made the brunette haired girl gasp in response.

"R-Red….." she whispered as tears began falling from her eyes as well, "…..I love you too."

Unsure whether his near-death experience was the cause of this sudden display of tenderness or not, Leaf didn't care and gently placed her arms around his body as he proceeded to tighten his grip as well.

The two sat silently in each other's embrace, not saying a word until Leaf suddenly felt something crawl up her shoulder and perch itself in-between them.

"Pika…..Pika…." Pikachu's voice meekly said as it placed its hands around both their heads and before Leaf even had a chance to react, something had already landed on her other shoulder.

"Jiggly…." her pink partner called out as its soft body pressed up against their faces as well.

One by one, the other Pokémon joined in as well and before Red and Leaf knew it, they had an array of vines, shells and wings all gathering together to lovingly embrace them.

* * *

"… _..It's just like when we first met….._ " Mewtwo sighed in content, leaning up against the wall as it watched this all play out from afar, " _These humans never change do they…._ "

Despite its sarcastic words, the psychic Pokémon couldn't take its eyes off the sight in front of it. Even though it was hard to believe, it was all because of its actions that made this possible and the just thought of that made it realize something that it hadn't realized in a long time.

…..it was happy.

Happy to see them all together again, happy that it was able to help make that possible and yet….as much as Mewtwo wanted to be with them, something was holding it back.

Perhaps it was some latent fear from the past or just being afraid to be loved in general that made it slowly turn its head away, " _I…..don't deserve to be included in this…."_ it noted and was just about to float away when.

"Mewtwo!" it heard Red's voice call out to it and upon looking over saw everyone huddled together with the red-capped boy sitting there with his hand extended.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did for me….."

The psychic Pokémon stared at him in bewilderment. Never before had anyone ever appreciated its actions and after staring at him for what felt like an eternity, Mewtwo found itself slowly beginning to float its way over to its new comrades.

Bit by bit, it inched its way closer. It was clearly hesitant to do so, but Red and the others were patient as they waited for it to finally stand before them.

Then, slowly kneeling down, Mewtwo gave one last look at the beings that it had come to know so well and muttered.

"… _..neither can I."_

With that, it finally let its guard down and proceeded to lean forward and throw its arms around Red and Leaf, its eyes watering as everyone welcomely embraced it as well.

For the first time in its life, Mewtwo felt accepted and tears flowed from its eyes as everyone hugged it tightly.

They were family and in that moment, trivial things like presents meant absolutely nothing compared to the genuine feeling they felt right now.

They were together….and would always be.

* * *

After hugging for what felt like an eternity, everyone finally disbanded, with Red slowly heading upstairs to have a hot shower and get out of his wet clothes, while Leaf quickly scooted over to the kitchen to finish up some "last minute preparations" that needed to be done before the night was over.

The task didn't take very long to complete and before she knew it, Leaf was walking out of the kitchen with the fruits of her labor in one hand and two steaming mugs in the other.

Upon entering the living room, her eyes were met with a floor full of sleeping Pokémon and Leaf chuckled as she tip-toed her way around them. It had been a very long day for all of them and judging from how late it currently was, it was no wonder why they were so tired.

Placing her last-minute surprise on a nearby table, Leaf then placed her two mugs on another table before walking over to the fireplace and giving it a quick stoke.

Red still hadn't come down yet and it made Leaf a bit concerned considering that, once upon a time, a very terrible incident occurred when she was exposed to cold temperatures for a long period of time.

"No….that was because of a different condition." she reassured herself as she sat down on the couch and began sipping at her drink, "He's going to be fine."

Sure enough, no sooner did she think that and Leaf heard the creaking of footsteps making their way down the staircase.

She listened as the footsteps grew louder and louder until finally, he appeared, hair all wet and wearing the most out of place hot pink bathrobe she'd ever seen.

Her eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing, however, before she could burst out laughing, Leaf quickly covered her mouth as Red put a finger to his.

Along with his pink bathrobe, Red was also carrying a huge stack of blankets with him and upon seeing the 11 Pokémon sprawled out amongst the floor, began tip-toeing his way to each of them

"There you go…" he whispered as he placed a blanket over each Pokemon, with each giving a welcome nuzzle in return.

Finally, he got to the last trio of Pokemon and bore witness to a sight, he'd never thought he'd ever see.

There was Mewtwo, fast asleep against a wall near the fireplace and whether by choice or not, Pikachu and Jigglypuff were nuzzled up beside it with an arm draped over both of them.

The sight brought a smile to Red's face, amazed at just how much progress the psychic Pokémon had made in just one day.

"Thank you….for everything…." he whispered and watched as it happily smiled as he gently placed the blanket over the three of them.

* * *

With that, Red turned his attention over to Leaf who had been watching him from the couch the whole time and sighed as knowing what he was going to have to explain.

"Before you ask, this was all I could find." he duly noted as he made his way over to her, but was only met with Leaf giggling uncontrollably.

"Oh Red! You look positively fabulous my pink bathrobe!" she teased causing an ensuing roll of the eyes from Red in return.

"Yeah! Yeah! You just wish you could look this fabulous!"

The two chuckled as Red took a seat beside Leaf and gently threw his last blanket over the two of them. His voice was still a little raspy but had definitely improved and upon finally getting a chance to relax, Red found his eyes slowly drifting towards the Christmas tree as its light glow beckoned them.

The tree looked even more beautiful than he remembered and upon closer inspection, saw that the entire base was now laden with presents.

All the while, Leaf slowly began inching herself closer to him, sighing with content as her body pressed up against his.

Red happily sighed as well. No matter how warm the blanket he'd put over them was, it could not compare to the warmth he felt from Leaf's body.

"I made you some hot coco." she stated as she pointed to one of the steaming mugs on the table in front of them.

"Oh! Thank you!"

Leaning over to grab the mug for himself, Red paused as he once again, glanced over at Mewtwo and Pikachu sleeping soundly by the fire.

"…..I can't believe how much they went through to help me today…" he whispered as Leaf curiously looked over as well.

"Well….they love you Red." she noted with a smile on her face, "Just look at how much you've changed Mewtwo in short time you were together."

Red rolled his eyes, "Yeah….and I only had to nearly die in order to do it." he sarcastically joked as he turned towards Leaf, "Was it like that for you too?"

A sarcastic smirk formed on the brunette haired girl's face as she touched the side of her lip in thought. "Well…I DO remember my heart skipping a beat when you jumped in front of that Thunderbolt for me." she stated, teasingly winking as she recalled the time Red when jumped in front of Zapdos attack, "…..but that could have easily just been from how scared I was at the time!"

Dully raising his eyebrows, Red scoffed as he gave the brunette haired girl a slight shove in response, "Oh quit teasing me!" he chuckled as she flopped to the side of the couch giggling as well.

After all the serious talk they'd had tonight, it put Red at ease seeing her return to her usual attitude.

"MMM…..this is really good…." he praised as he took a quick sip of his hot chocolate.

"Thanks." Leaf happily replied, "The…burner and I got really well acquainted while you were gone."

Stopping mid-sip, Red raised his eyebrows, "Do I want to know what happened?" he dully wondered as Leaf proceeded to bashfully scratch the back of her head.

"…..probably not."

Red chuckled. Whatever, she had done it really didn't matter. All he cared about was that he was back with her again and for the next few minutes, the two just sat in silence, quietly sipping away at their drinks.

It was peaceful, the only source sound coming from the fireplace as it intensely crackled from time to time and after taking a few sips of her hot chocolate, Leaf paused as she began reflecting on everything that had just happened.

" _ **Leaf! If something happened to you I would never forgive myself!**_ " the memory of Red's voice echoed in her head, " _ **I promised you the perfect Christmas and I failed…..**_ "

Leaf quietly swirled her drink as the memory played over and over again, she just couldn't get over hearing him sound so broken and defeated.

In the time that she'd been with him, the worst Leaf had ever seen Red was when he was in the thick of battle and got super serious. Other than that, he was always so positive and loving, to the point that it seemed that nothing could ever get him down.

So seeing him act so….human...today was really off-putting for her.

"You know…..I haven't seen you get that emotional in a long time." Leaf suddenly spoke up, unable to hold her thoughts in any longer.

Red winced the moment those words came out of her mouth. He knew after everything he'd said today that this would come up eventually and hung his head low in shame. "I'm sorry….I don't know what came over me…." he sadly replied, only to feel Leaf comfortingly place her hand on his shoulder in response.

"No….no…don't apologize." she quickly noted before glancing away and with a slight blush revealed, "I….kinda liked it…."

Red was in total shock. "Y-You did?" he stammered as she slowly nodded in response.

"Yeah….after I poured my heart out to you…..that hug you gave me….it made me feel like I was the most important person in the whole wide world….."

Before Red could even respond, Leaf suddenly turned to him, "Red….you're always so reclusive when it comes to your emotions and you shouldn't have to be." she passionately stated while grasping both of his hands in her own, "We're in this together right? So…don't be afraid to let me be your shoulder to cry on when you need it."

He then watched as she slowly glanced away and revealed. "…lord knows how many times you do it for me….."

Red was speechless. His whole life, he'd always thought that showing his emotions was a bad thing. In battle, he had to keep his emotions in check and his best friend had always told him that emotions were for the weak, but Leaf was right.

Especially now that he was sharing his life with someone else, Red needed to be more open with his feelings and he was thankful that of all people, she was the one to tell him that.

"…..thanks Leaf," he whispered and watched as she slowly tilted her head back over to look at him.

Perhaps it was the dimly lit atmosphere of the living room or something else entirely, but, in that moment, Red really noticed her. The way her skin shone thanks to the soft glow of the fireplace really exemplified just how beautiful she was and as their eyes met, Red realized just how much she'd changed. Gone was the aimless thief he once took pity on and in her place was a totally different person who had matured into something he could never have expected.

"What is it?" Leaf wondered causing Red to blush as she curiously tilted her head.

"N-nothing!" he stammered before glancing over and revealing, "It's just…..you look really beautiful right now."

Fully expecting her to embarrassingly blush in response, Red was surprised when instead of blushing, Leaf simply rolled her eyes at him. "Pfft! Shut up Red!" she scoffed at his vain attempts at flattery, "After spending all day worrying about you, I probably aged myself like 10 years…."

Totally shocked, Red watched as she upsettingly crossed her arms and glanced away, "You were really THAT worried?" he teased as Leaf gave him a quick shove in return.

"Of course I was and it's all your fault!" she exclaimed while intensely pointing at him, "Before meeting you, I never worried about anyone!"

Red had to laugh. Despite all the changes she'd undergone since they'd first met, deep down, she was still the same old Leaf and as such, her attempts at being serious came off as more cute than anything.

"I was worried about you too…." he softly revealed as he placed his hand over hers, "When I was out there in the cold, thinking of you was my motivation to keep going."

"…..and yet you still collapsed anyway!"

"W-well….t-that's-"

"So what?" she teasingly remarked before glancing down and giving him those big puppy dog he had such a weakness for, "I guess you don't love me as much as you think you do, huh Reddy?"

A deadpanned look fell over Red's face. He'd only had been back with her for a few minutes and she'd already managed to zing him twice.

However, puppy dog eyes or not, this time Red wasn't about to let her get away with it.

"…..you know what I think….."

*POKE*

All of a sudden, Red gave her a little poke to the side, prompting Leaf to shriek in response.

"EEE! Stop that!" she shouted as a small giggle escaped from her mouth.

"Stop what?"

*POKE*

"THAT!" she exclaimed as her giggling grew louder, "Hee! Hee! You how I feel about tickling!"

A sly smile formed on Red's face. "Oh….I know!" he coyly stated, "It's your weakness!"

Before Leaf even had a chance to react, he suddenly reached forward and poked her again, prompting her to almost leap out of her seat from the shock of it all. "Ahhhhhaha!" she yelled desperately trying to keep her composure, "I'm….haha….no! Red! I'm supposed to be mad at you!"

The red-capped boy cheekily raised his eyebrows. It wasn't often that he had the upper hand like this and was enjoying it way too much to stop now. "Uh-huh! We'll see about that!" he declared as he lunged forward and wrapped his hands around her waist.

"No! Haha! NO! NO! NO! HAHAHAHAHA!" she laughed uncontrollably as he began tickling her all over.

The two proceeded to roll around on the couch, Leaf trying so desperately to get loose, but Red had her locked in tight. Somehow, her incessant laughing didn't wake anybody up as they rolled from side to side before finally, Red decided to ease up his grip on her.

"Had enough yet?"

Unfortunately for him, his showing of compassion would prove to be his undoing as no sooner did he release Leaf and she immediately gave him the deadliest glare in return.

"Oh! Now you're going to get it!" she declared while intensely pointing at him, "Half dead or not! Prepare to face the full wrath of the Great Shadow Thief!"

Without warning, Leaf suddenly lunged forward and poked Red in the side, causing the red-capped boy to almost leap 10 feet in the air as he had a taste of his own medicine.

"AHH! HAHA!" he laughed as grabbed both of her hands in his own and began to struggle about, "OH! So you wanna play rough huh?"

* * *

For the next few minutes, the two grunted and groaned, each vying for control as they rocked back and forth on the couch laughing the entire time.

In the midst of their struggles, it seemed that Red finally had the upper hand as he pinned Leaf down against the couch.

"Are you….ready to….call it quits…..Leaf….." he panted as held down both her hands with his own.

Panting as well, Leaf's eyes quickly darted from side to side. After spending most of her life finding her way out of impossible situations, this would be no different and as her eyes glanced around, she finally saw her way out.

Quickly turning back to Red, she flashed her typical cocky grin at him before seizing her opportunity.

"…..never!"

Reaching back to the table behind them, Leaf quickly grabbed a spare pokeball off it and held it up to Red's face.

"Don't….even….think about it!" he threatened and with a devilish smile on her face, Leaf arc the ball back, making it look like she was going to throw it….only to suddenly drop it on the floor.

"…..jokes on you champ!"

"What?!"

His eyes distracted, Red was totally caught off-guard as Leaf suddenly pushed him down on the couch, leaping on top of him and pinning him down with both of her hands.

"Surrender….to….me…." she panted as she looked down at his surprised face.

"Ugghhhh!" Red groaned as he tried to move, "You…do…realize…this would never happen if I wasn't in such a weaken state!"

Leaf rolled her eyes, "Uh-huh! You just keep telling yourself that sweetie."

"Just you wait!" he declared as he continued struggling to no avail, "Once I get free I'm going to-"

Red paused as Leaf curiously raised her eyebrows.

"W-well I haven't actually thought that far ahead!" he stammered, "But it's going to be something terrible!"

"Hee! Hee!"

* * *

Red watched as Leaf's face softened and releasing one of her hands from his own, began gently caressing his face.

"You don't know how much I missed you today." she honestly stated to him, "I really came to realize just how much I appreciate having you with me Red…."

Red was at a loss for words, he hadn't felt this close to her in some time and blushed immensely as she continued caressing his cheek.

Her eyes shone brightly as the light reflected off them, her hair falling over her face, gently touching his skin as it did, she was beautiful and unable to hold it in any longer, Red lifted his head up and kissed her on the lips.

"…mmm." Leaf mumbled, completely caught off-guard by his sudden showing of affection. Normally, it was her surprising him like this, not the other way around.

"…I really appreciate having you too." he said as their lips slowly parted, "…..thank you for being there for me."

Blushing as he rested his head back against the couch Leaf could only stare in shock after what just happened.

Despite still being the same Red at heart, he had definitely started coming out of his comfort zone more often since she'd started living with him and couldn't help but smile as she slowly began leaning towards him.

Red watched as Leaf hair slowly enveloped all around him as she kept leaning down before stopping just inches from his face and whispering.

"…..always."

With that, she planted her lips firmly against his, passionately kissing him back before nestling her head against his chest and closing her eyes.

By now the flames of the fireplace had been reduced to mere embers and the two listened as the last few sparks proceeded to crackle out.

It had been a very long day and they were both very exhausted from all that happened. Taking one last look around the living room, Red sighed as he watched the light flickered off of each of the sleeping Pokémon. He may not have any presents to give them tomorrow, but at least they would all be able to welcome Christmas morning together.

"Oh and….just so you know Leaf…." Red noted as he turned his attention back to the brunette haired girl asleep in his arms and kissed her forehead, "When it comes to you and me and near death experiences…."

With a final spark, the fireplace burnt out and in the ensuing darkness, Leaf heard him cheekily whisper.

"….this makes us even now."

* * *

 **Alright ladies and gentleman, that's it! This chapter took way longer to finish than I expected, but I'm happy it's done. There's only one more chapter to go and with 2 weeks until Christmas...hopefully I can get it done on time. Still undecided whether I want to post it Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.**

 **Just to answer Leafgreen14's question from last chapter, I was picturing Mewtwo's barrier like a dome where once you're in it, you can't move out of it and as for why it didn't use it any earlier...it just didn't think of it. Hopefully that answers your question lol.**

 **As for everyone else who reviewed, thank you so much for your kind words. We only have 1 chapter left...I know it's weird to think, but this was supposed to be a short story.**

 **I guess the next time I'll see everyone will be Chirstmas Eve or Christmas day. Until then...don't shop too much and I'll see you then :)**

 **Ciao!**


	5. A Christmas Miracle

**Alright ladies and gentleman, here it is! A day AFTER Christmas (Though let's face it, it's probably not going to matter in the grand scheme of things). I apologize and I'll explain what happened at the end of the chapter.**

 **Never the less, I hope you enjoy this last chapter of my Christmas fic!**

* * *

Chapter 5: A Christmas Miracle

*BONG* BONG* *BONG*

Twelve bells rang out as a nearby clock struck midnight and within the solo house atop Mt. Silver, Red, Leaf and their 11 Pokemon were currently fast asleep, exhausted from the events that had transpired the previous day.

As such, nothing could disturb them from their deep slumber….not even the slight *THUMP* that sounded out from atop their house as the clock struck 12.

The sound was quickly followed by a rustling noise coming from the fireplace before all too soon; something came flying down the chimney, it's large bag cushioning its landing as it fell.

Humorously rubbing its bottom as it came walking out, the mysterious visitor revealed itself to be a portly little bird Pokemon with orange and white plumage, one that was not native to the Kanto region.

Curious, it poked its head out of the fireplace, taking a minute to scan over its surroundings before slinging its heavy sack over its shoulder and waddling its way over to the Christmas tree.

Step by step, it carefully tip-toed around each of the Pokemon strewn about the floor, making sure not to disturb any of them before finally reaching its destination and placing its huge brown bag amongst all the other presents.

"Deli!" it chirped in content before carefully making its way back. However, just before it could reach the fireplace, the portly bird's eyes were suddenly captivated by a very delightful sight on the table next to it.

There, sitting atop was a plate full of cookies and not wanting to pass up such a treat, happily waddled on over, grinning from ear to ear as it grabbed one of the cookies off the plate and took a little nibble.

"Deli! Deli!"

Quickly finishing its treat, the portly bird quickly shifted its eyes from side to side, making sure no one was looking as it magically produced another sack out of thin air and hastily began stuffing the rest of the cookies in it.

"….stocking up for the rest of tonight's trip I see." a booming voice suddenly called out from behind and upon turning around, the little bird's eyes were met with the huge black boots of its master, "I hope you've brought enough for everyone?"

"Deli!" the bird happily nodded as it held a cookie up for its master, which he graciously accepted.

"MMM! Delightful!" the bearded gentleman praised as he took a bite of the cookie and looked out at the sight before him.

"Come on…" he quietly whispered to his partner, "…..we have a lot of work to do tonight…."

Quickly nodding in response, the portly little bird took its sack of cookies and ascended up the chimney with the jolly old man following close behind.

However, just as he was about to leave, the old man paused as he heard what sounded like something rustling and quickly turned around to see that a blanket had fallen on the ground.

Quietly tip-toeing his way over, the bearded gentleman carefully picked the blanket up off the ground, sighing with content as he gently draped it back over the two individuals sleeping on the couch. "Merry Christmas…." he whispered to them before tip-toeing his way back over to the chimney and flying away.

* * *

It would only be a few hours later before the next morning would arrive and as the sun's glimmering light began shining through the windows, the eyes of Red's tiny yellow Pokemon began fluttering open.

"Pi….Pika?"

Curiously rubbing its eyes as its vision came into focus; the electrical Pokemon looked around for a few seconds before finally realizing what day it was and instantly lighting up in response.

"Pika! Pika!" it happily called out, leaning over to the pink Pokemon lying beside it and giving it a quick nudge.

"Jig…gly….." Jigglypuff muttered, groggily opening its eyes to reveal the smiling face of Pikachu looking down at it.

"Pikachu!" it happily announced and quickly coming to a realization of what day it was as well, Jigglypuff instantly perked up too.

"Jiggly! Jiggly!"

More ecstatic than ever, Pikachu quickly jumped off of Mewtwo's lap, inadvertently waking the psychic Pokemon in the process.

" _Hey? What?!_ " it shouted as the tiny Pokemon began running from Pokemon to Pokemon eagerly announcing that Christmas had arrived.

* * *

Within minutes, everyone was awake, excitedly awaiting the start of Christmas day….everyone that is…..except for the two humans currently still fast asleep on the couch.

As such, all the Pokemon eagerly gathered around the couch, hoping their presence would cause their trainers to stir. However, after waiting for what felt like an eternity, they could wait no longer and taking matters into its own hands, Pikachu decided it was going to be the one to wake them.

Leaping up onto the couch, the tiny electrical Pokemon walked over to Leaf, figuring she would be the easier of the two to wake and gave her a small poke in the cheek.

"Hmm….hmmm?" she groaned, slowly opening her eyes to see Pikachu anxiously sitting there, waiting for her to get up.

"Pika! Pika!"

"Huh….what is it Pikachu?" she mumbled as she slowly sat up, only to see all the other Pokemon eagerly staring at her as well.

Just like Pikachu, they all looked like they could barely contain themselves and all too soon, Leaf pieced it all together.

"Holy smokes! It's morning!" she exclaimed as she turned to the dark haired boy sleeping next to her, "Red! Wake up! It's Christmas morning!"

More excited than ever, Leaf gave her partner a small shake on the shoulder….only to be met with him rolling away from her.

"Mmm….five more minutes mom….." he mumbled, prompting the brunette haired girl to raise her eyebrows in response.

"Uh-huh….." she dully replied before turning to Red's yellow partner and stating, "….Pikachu….you know what do!"

Heeding Leaf's order, the electrical Pokemon leapt atop its trainer and with a sly smirk plastered on its face, raised its hands in the air. "PIKACHU!" it shouted as a huge jolt of electricity sparked from its cheeks, immediately coursing through Red's body as it made contact.

"WAHHH!" he yelled out, nearly jumping 10 feet in the air as he was suddenly awakened by Pikachu's shock, "WHAT IN THE-"

"Good morning sleepy head!" Leaf teasingly greeted, "Merry Christmas!"

With that, she gave the shocked young man a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to look around even more confused. "M-merry….." it took a minute, but all too soon Red's eyes widened as he finally realized what day it was, "It's Christmas morning!"

Ecstatic, he watched as all the Pokemon bounced up and down in excitement as Leaf suddenly grabbed his hand began tugging him forward, "Come on! Get up so we can go open our presents!" she urged as she forcefully pulled him to his feet.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Hold on!"

However, the minute Red drew back the blankets that had been covering him, all the Pokemon suddenly turned towards him with bewildered looks on their faces.

A few seconds of stunned silence followed before they all erupted in a fit of laughter.

"Wh-" Red could barely form a word as their incessant laughing drowned him out, "What the heck are you all laughing a-"

He then paused as his eyes slowly panned down, slowly coming to a realization of what the source of their amusement was.

"….oh….."

"Come on Red! Don't let that pink robe slow you down!" Leaf teasingly called out as they all made a B-line for the Christmas tree.

"Yeah…yeah…..laugh it up!" he quickly shot back, "Just remember who feeds all of y-"

Red paused as he suddenly came face to face with a certain white clad individual who simply shook its head as he came walking up.

"….."

"….."

The two silently stared at one another, each periodically glancing down at the subject in question before finally, Mewtwo broke the ice by saying.

"… _..do I want to know?_ "

The dark haired boy looked down at the pink robe once again and pondered what to say, knowing full well the psychic Pokemon would see through any lie he would tell.

"…..if I told you, would you believe me?" he quipped back causing a slight smirk to form on Mewtwo's face as it patted Red's shoulder in response.

"… _..probably not._ "

* * *

With that, they all eagerly sat around the Christmas tree, watching with delight as the bright lights illuminated off of each of the multicolored presents.

"Wow! There's so many!" Red noted as he excitedly came running over, realizing that he hadn't really had a good chance to see the Christmas tree since coming home last night.

Unfortunately, the dark-haired boy wouldn't be able to admire the tree for long as no sooner did he take a seat and Leaf immediately sprung to her feet, grabbing his hand as she did.

"Oh! Oh! Red! Can I play Ms. Claus and hand out the presents?" she desperately pleaded to him while hopping up and down.

Red couldn't help but chuckle. Her enthusiasm was almost childlike and even though Red would never admit it out loud, kinda cute. "It's your Christmas Leaf, of course, you can!" he stated causing Leaf almost jump 10 ft in the air in response.

"Yay! Yay! Yay!"

They all watched she then dove head first into the mound of presents and as Leaf began sorting each of the gifts into respective piles, Red turned to her pink partner and teasingly whispered. "Let's face it; she would have done this whether I said yes or not."

"I heard that!" Leaf's voice suddenly rang out as she turned around to see the two guiltily looking at her. "Alright funny boy! Just for that, you get the first present!"

Before Red knew it, a glossy package was suddenly flying towards his face and using his quick reflexes, quickly grabbed it before it could make contact.

"I….get to open your present first?" he wondered as Leaf happily nodded in response.

"I felt it was only fair considering you got the last cookie sweetie."

Curious, Red gave the box a slight shake. It didn't feel like anything was moving inside and that only piqued his curiosity.

" _I wonder what kind of gift she got me?_ " he thought as he stared down at the present.

Leaf had done a very exquisite job at wrapping this gift and Red was very careful not to rip any of the glossy red paper as he removed the box within it and opened its top.

"No way….."

Curious, everyone gathered around as Red reached into the box and pulled out Leaf's gift.

"It's a new hat!"

All the Pokemon stared in wonder as Red showed it off. Instead of his typical red cap with a white curve, the colors were now inverse, making it bear more of a resemblance to Leaf's premier ball hat.

"I know you love that old one of yours, but I thought you might like some variety." the brunette haired noted as she watched Red ogle his new gift.

"….and…."

With a slight blush on her face, Leaf glanced away.

"….when you wear it, it's almost like I'm always right there with you."

Red blushed as well as he placed his new cap atop his head and walked over to her. "Oh Leaf…..thank you" he exclaimed as he embraced her tightly, "I hope you didn't go through too much trouble finding this."

"Oooooh…"

* * *

 ***FLASHBACK***

 **"Okay, miss! Here's the hat you requested!" the** **clerk at the store Leaf was at happily stated as he placed the hat on the front counter, "That'll be-"**

" **Oooohhhh! No! No! No! Sweetie!" Leaf suddenly cut him off as she teasingly leaned over the counter, "I want to see ALL of your hats!"**

" **A-all of them?"**

" **Did I stutter?"**

" **N-no ma'am!"**

 **A few minutes later…**

" **Okay….miss…." the clerk panted as he placed the last arm-full of hats on the counter, "That's….every….hat….in the…..store….I-"**

 **He paused, realizing that Leaf was nowhere to be seen.**

" **Miss? MISS?!" he frantically called out, pausing as he noticed a small card on the counter and upon reading it, raised his fist to the air.**

 **"I'VE BEEN BAMBOOZLED!"**

* * *

Giggling as the memory played out in her head, Red watched as Leaf cheekily placed her finger on the corner of her lip.

"Not too much trouble at all!" she teasingly stated before quickly grabbing the next present in an attempt to change the subject, "Now who's next?"

One after another, everyone opened their respectful gifts: Venasaur getting some decorations for its flower, Snorlax got a new pillow and each of the mystic birds received little pins with their respective elemental emblems on it.

Slowly but surely, the giant mound of presents gradually dwindled until only a few remained to be opened.

"J-jiggly?" Jigglypuff muttered as it opened the tiny box that Pikachu had presented to it. Slowly reaching inside, the pink Pokemon stared in shock as it pulled out a very beautiful looking red ribbon and happily began dancing about.

"Jiggly! Jiggly!" it cried out in joy before embracing its yellow comrade in thanks.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu happily replied as Jigglypuff turned to its trainer and showed off its new gift.

"That's some top of the line equipment you've got there!" Leaf noted as Jigglypuff danced around with joy, "We'll have to try it on later."

With that, Leaf eased back into the couch. Handing out all these gifts was actually starting to tire her out and just as she rested her head back, Leaf could have sworn she saw something move in the kitchen.

Curiously wondering what it could be, she did a quick scan of the area before realized that, once again, a certain Pokemon was absent from the rest.

"Hey Red?" she asked while turning to the dark-haired boy, "Do you mind taking over handing out presents for me?"

"Sure," Red replied as she got up and began making her way over to the kitchen.

* * *

It only took a few steps for Leaf to notice that the "something" she'd seen was a tail and sure enough, as soon as she entered the kitchen, her suspicions were confirmed.

"What's going on Mewtwo?" she asked causing the psychic Pokemon to turn around in surprise.

" _Y-young lady!_ " it stammered in response, " _How did you know I was back here?_ "

"Your tail gave it away." she duly noted, giving the tail a little nudge with her foot before finally asking, "Why are you hiding back here?"

Glancing away, the psychic Pokemon sighed as it revealed its reason, " _Leaf...I…don't have any gifts to give to anyone…._ " it noted, a hint of sadness echoing throughout her head as it spoke, _"….so I figured I didn't deserve to be with everyone._ "

Leaf sighed as well. She could definitely understand why Mewtwo felt the way it did and gave it a comforting pat on the shoulder in response. "It's okay, you're one of us now!" she stated before giving the psychic Pokemon a little nudge to the side, "Keep in mind, I didn't spend all that time saving you so you WOULDN'T participate with us!"

Mewtwo couldn't help but laugh. " _You were indeed quite impressive last night young lady._ " it praised as it turned to face the brunette haired girl, " _Though I must ask, when did you become such an expert in medical remedies?_ "

Just then, Mewtwo saw it; that grin that everyone kept telling it about. "Oh I'm no expert!" she stated with a wink, "I just saw it on a TV show once!"

"… _.why am I not surprised…"_

Unable to contain themselves any longer, the two laughed. After everything that had happened between them in the past, getting to talk so nonchalantly to one another was still taking some getting used to. Even though she never brought it up, deep down Mewtwo knew that Leaf was probably still hurting from what happened to her father all those years ago and it didn't help knowing that it was the cause of that.

This was the psychic Pokemon's second chance to make things right with her and if she was willing to put the past behind her, then it would too.

"Hey! What's everyone doing in here?" a familiar voice called out, catching the two off-guard as they both spun around to see Red standing in the doorway.

"Red!" Leaf cheerfully greeted, "Is the gift exchange over?"

The dark haired boy bashfully glanced down as he pulled out a small black box from his pocket, "Well….there IS one more gift left." he noted as he placed the box in Mewtwo's hand, "Merry Christmas Mewtwo."

The psychic Pokemon was completely caught off-guard. " _A gift?_ " it replied in shock, " _A gift for me?_ "

"It's from Leaf and I."

Mewtwo was at loss for words, unsure how to responds as its eyes rapidly darted between the small box and the young man that had given it too him. " _B-But….I thought you lost all your gifts?_ " it stated as Red shrugged in response.

"We've actually had this one for quite a while." he casually revealed as he placed his arm around Leaf, "We just didn't know when it would be a good time to give it to you."

Slowly but surely, the psychic Pokemon curiously began opening the tiny box. It's long, pudgy fingers making it a bit difficult to grasp, but eventually, it managed to get a good grip and what it saw inside caused Mewtwo to almost drop the box in shock.

" _T-this is-_ "

"It's a ring infused with both versions of Mewtwonite," Red explained as the psychic pokemon bafflingly looked over at him.

Admittedly surprised by its reaction, Leaf had to wonder as well. "You know of it Mewtwo?" she asked.

" _Of course I do!_ " it exclaimed, " _The laboratory I was born in developed them in an attempt to make me more powerful…..but their power…._ "

"Their power can only be harnessed by a strong bond," Red revealed, finishing Mewtwo's line of thought before revealing. "One that we are fortunate enough to share."

The psychic Pokemon was at a loss for words. Never before did it ever believe it could utilize this power, but now, with these two, it definitely seemed like a possibility and held the ring up to its face, watching as light sparkled off the mystic gem.

"The league gave me those stones when I took you into our care." Red continued to explain, "….and by accepting this gift….you, Leaf and I will be connected by a bond that cannot be broken."

With that Red removed his bracelet, while Leaf unhooked the back of her necklace, each containing their respective keystones and held them out.

"So…..what do you say Mewtwo?" the dark-haired boy asked as he placed his hand atop Leaf's.

Still as a statue, Mewtwo watched as they both smiled at it, eagerly awaiting its decision. It had made a lot of changes over the past while and this would be the biggest change of its life. Accepting this offer would effectively bind it to these humans from now until the day they died.

Could it accept that? Could it accept these conditions?

Holding the ring skyward, there was only one response it could think of.

"… _..I can think of nothing I'd want more._ "

With that, it slowly placed its hand atop theirs causing a bright flash of light to emit from the three stones the minute they made contact and upon looking down, witnessed as their stones now emitted a light glow, signifying the strength of their bond.

"Hee! Hee! Now you really are stuck with us for life!" Leaf giggled as the three embraced one another.

After years of solitude, the once-reclusive psychic Pokemon had finally found its place in the world. A bond that it would now share…..till the end of its days.

* * *

Upon returning to the living room, Red, Leaf, and Mewtwo were greeted with everyone happily showing off their presents to one another, while heaps of wrapping paper messily laid about the floor.

Figuring it'd be best to take care of it sooner rather than later, everyone volunteered to pitch in and help clean it up before proceeding with any other activities.

Deciding to tackle cleaning up around the Christmas tree, the duo of Leaf and Pikachu had just about finished picking up all the wrapping paper when something caught the electrical Pokemon's attention.

"Pika! Pika!" it called out to the brunette haired girl, poking her in the side to side to get her attention.

"What is it Pikachu?" she asked as she followed the tiny Pokemon to a strange brown bag that had been propped up against the tree.

Compared to the other bright colored packages, it didn't really stand out until now and upon reading the name it was addressed to, glanced over at one another in confusion.

Meanwhile, Red and the other Pokemon were currently cleaning the rest of the floor when Leaf came strolling over with the strange brown sack in her hand.

"What've you got there Leaf?" he confusingly asked as she looked down at the sack in question.

"Pikachu found this bag leaning up against the tree." she explained before holding it out to him and with equally as much confusion, revealed, "It's….addressed to you."

"To….me?"

Curious, Red grabbed the card off of the front of the bag. It definitely said " **To Red** " on it, but…who was it from?

Neither Leaf nor the Pokemon were taking ownership of this strange gift and upon opening the card for himself, gasped as he read what was written inside.

* * *

 **Dear Red (If that is what you truly preferred to be called):**

 **I have heard of your strain and struggles this holiday season and I want you to know just how proud I am for how strong you've been through all of it.**

 **You truly desired to bring perfect Christmas to the ones you love and knowing that, I wanted to offer a little….assistance to you on this very special day.**

 **Remember son, Christmas isn't about holly, presents or candles all aglow, it's about the hearts that we touch and the love that we show.**

 **Wishing you and all those you love all the best this Christmas season.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **S.C**

* * *

Red's eyes widened and no sooner did he finish reading out the card did he notice that everyone shared the same expression as him.

"S.C?" Leaf pondered as she watched Red slowly lower the card from his face, "Y-you…don't….think…."

In the blink of an eye, everyone quickly knelt down beside the bag as Red quickly pulled it open and peered inside.

"Oh wow….." he muttered, his voice nearly inaudible from the shock of it all.

"W-what's in there Red?"

"Look!"

Before Leaf's very eyes, Red reached in and pulled out a huge holiday Farfetched, bigger than she'd ever seen before.

"Woah!" she gasped, blown away by its sheer size.

"…..and that's not all!"

Reaching back into the bag, Red proceeded to then pull a very fancy looking red-orbed bracelet, gasping with happiness as he placed it on the floor. One after another, he pulled bracelet after bracelet out of the bag, before finally pulling out one final gift which was quite different from the others.

Instead of another bracelet, the last gift was a fancily wrapped little box, which Red carefully placed on the ground as he pulled it out.

"Red….was is all this?" Leaf finally asked as he covered his mouth in an attempt to contain his excitement.

"Leaf….these….these….are my…." he could barely form a sentence, "M-my presents!"

Completely stunned, everyone quickly gathered around to see for themselves.

" _Are you sure of that?_ " Mewtwo skeptically asked as Red hastily sifted through all the items on the floor.

"I'm sure of it!" he reassured, holding the nicely wrapped gift up for everyone to see, "This is exactly how Leaf's present was wrapped when I left the store."

He could barely contain his excitement as he confidently exclaimed. "There's no doubt these are my gifts for all of you!"

Nothing could hide the smiles on all the Pokemons faces as they excitedly looked over at one another.

Could it really be? Could Santa have really came to visit them last night?

"B-but! That's not all!" Red suddenly spoke up again, excitedly waving his hand as he looked down into the large brown bag, "There's still stuff in there!"

"What?!" Leaf gasped before noticing that something was written on the back side of the card Red was holding, "Hang on! Let me see that card!"

Quickly snatching the card from Red's hand, the brunette haired girl quickly began reading what she noticed out loud.

* * *

 **P.S For being so good this year I've left a little something for everyone else as well.**

* * *

Excitedly lowering the paper from her eyes, Leaf watched as Red, once again peered into the bag and reached inside.

"He's not lying!" he exclaimed as he pulled out one beautifully wrapped gift after another, "Here's a present for Charizard, one for Clefable, one for Snorlax….."

"Oh! Here's one that's addressed to you Leaf!"

"Me?!"

Unable to contain her excitement, Leaf graciously accepted the present for herself, quickly tearing off the card on the front and reading it out loud.

* * *

 **Dear Leaf,**

 **Words cannot describe how sorry I am for missing you all these years. Even though I know it will never make up for all the years of suffering you've endured, I hope you'll accept this little gift the missus made especially for you.**

 **I hope you enjoy,**

 **Merry Christmas**

* * *

More excited than ever, Leaf tore off the wrapping paper and slowly began lifting the lid off the top of the box that was inside.

"Ho! Ho! Santa baby what did you get for little ol me?" she sang as she peeked inside, "OH MY GOSH!"

Hearing her scream of delight, everyone turned to see her quickly shut the lid and begin happily dancing about.

"W-what did you get Leaf?" Red asked, but being far too ecstatic to even form words, she could only respond with.

"I….I…..I'll be right back!"

In the blink of an eye, the brunette haired girl bolted upstairs as fast as she could, leaving Red to finish handing out all the gifts by himself.

* * *

It took some time, but eventually, everyone got their present from Santa and once that was done, Red began handing out his gifts as well. Turns out, Santa gave each of the Pokemon their own respective hold item, which Red happily attached to each of them after putting on the flame orb bracelet he'd bought for them as well.

"How does that feel Zapdos?" Red asked as he placed one of his bracelets around the mystic bird's feet.

Immediately feeling the warmth it brought on, Zapdos happily cried out, nuzzling him with its beak as he attempted to attach the magnet it was given as well.

"Ha! Ha! Okay! Okay! You're Welcome!" he laughed as he struggled to attach the magnet, "There! That should help increase your electrical powers as well."

With that, Red turned to the last two Pokemon present and began making his way over to them.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu happily cried out as it danced around with its new light ball.

"I guess Santa really did listen to what you asked for huh Pikachu?"

The electrical pokemon happily nodded in response, unable to contain its happiness as Red attached its new item. However, the same could not be said for its psychic counterpart, who was currently scowling in the corner.

"What did you get from Santa Mewtwo?"

Narrowing its eyes, the psychic Pokemon grunted as it slowly rose up its gift for Red to see.

"… _..he gave me a spoon….."_

"Ah, that's a twisted spoon!" the dark-haired young man happily explained, "It helps power up your psychic attacks!"

Clearly unconvinced that such a common item could have such power, the psychic Pokemon scoffed as it looked down at the spoon in question, "Right….whatever you say….." it huffed as it tossed the spoon away and held up another card to Red's face, "More than that….is what he wrote to me…."

Red chuckled. After seeing just how upset Mewtwo got with the mall Santa they encountered, he couldn't imagine what was going through the psychic Pokemon's mind right now and eagerly listened as Mewtwo began reading out the card out loud.

* * *

 **Dear Mewtwo,**

 **While I appreciate that you wish to know more about me, unfortunately, my secrets are more than you could ever understand.**

 **For you see, I am seen in the smiles the whole world is sharing, I am found where there is friendship and love and caring, I am the spirit behind all the gifts the world receives and more than anything, I am everywhere to those who believe.**

 **So take care and better luck next year!**

 **Merry Christmas**

* * *

Red had to cover his mouth, in an attempt to prevent himself from laughing. It was no wonder why Mewtwo was so upset right now. After all its attempts to make sense of the legend of Santa Claus, the man himself had pretty much just told the psychic Pokemon that its attempts were in vain.

"Oh Mewtwo…." Red humorously muttered, watching Mewtwo's hand shake in anger as it lowered the card from its face.

"… _..that inconceivable sweet talking bastard….._ "

Unable to help but chuckle at the psychic Pokemon's expense, Red finally reached into his pocket and presented the last two flame orb bracelets that were left.

"I heard you had to destroy your bracelets in order to protect us." the dark haired boy noted as he, once again placed one of the bracelets around Pikachu's neck, "Santa must have known that too cause there's two extra."

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu happily responded, feeling that familiar warmth it felt before once the bracelet was attached.

"…..thank you both…..for everything."

" _No…thank you…._ " Mewtwo sternly acknowledged as it watched Red attach the last bracelet on its arm, " _If it wasn't for your kindness…we would never have survived…._ "

Hearing that, Red bashfully scratched the back of his head as Pikachu ran up his shoulder hugged the side of his head, "I-I….honestly didn't realize they would be so important." he stated, watching as Mewtwo smiled in response.

" _Never the less….I want to thank you Red._ " it sincerely stated, smirking as it sarcastically added, _"….just…..make sure that you wear more appropriate clothing next time we go trail walking!_ "

"You can count on it!" Red stated before giving the psychic Pokemon a small nudge to the side and teasingly quipped back with, "and….if you're ever in need of another wingman….I'll be there for you!"

"… _.wing….man?"_

Chuckling, Red threw his arm around the oblivious Pokemon. "I'll explain it later!" he teased before sticking his hand out. "…..partners?"

Glancing over at one another, the two Pokemon nodded in response.

" _Partners!_ "

"Pika!"

* * *

With that, the three placed their hands on top of one of one another. However, just as they did, a voice suddenly called out from behind them.

"E-hem!" the sound of someone clearing their throat rang out and Red watched as both Pikachu and Mewtwo began staring blankly behind him.

"….p-pika?"

"… _.oh my….._ "

Confused as to what was going on, Red quickly spun around to see what they were looking at.

"What's up gu…."

No sooner did he turn around and his eyes were met with a very unexpected sight.

There, standing before them, was Leaf. However, instead of her usual attire, she was now wearing a very festive looking white and red checkered shirt complete with a very short looking red mini-skirt.

"What do you boys think of my new outfit?" she teasingly asked as she gracefully twirled around, "The note from Santa says that it's a Mrs. Claus outfit."

Leaf watched as Red, Pikachu and Mewtwo just stared silently at her, unable to pick their jaws up from off the ground.

"W-wow…" Red finally spoke, his voice bumbling along as he tried to form a coherent sentence, "U-umm….c-correct me if I wrong, but I've never heard of Mrs. Claus ever wearing something so…..uhh...skimpy Leaf."

"I know it's pretty scandalous huh?" she teasingly noted while looking down at herself, "You wanna talk about naughty or nice!"

Before Red could even say anything, Leaf suddenly took off, excitingly showing off her new outfit to the other Pokemon while Red watched from a distance, fiddling with the last gift he currently had in his pocket.

This was it, after so long of thinking that he would never get to give Leaf her present, this was his time to shine and as soon as she finished showing her outfit off to everyone, it was time to make his move.

"Leaf…." Red shyly spoke as walked up to her with his present in hand, "….this is for you."

The brunette haired girl curiously looked down at the fancily wrapped little box Red had in his hand and smiled. After getting so excited from her gift from Santa, she'd almost completely forgotten about Red's gift.

"After how much you've hyped this up, it'd better amazing mister." she teased, but deep down Leaf knew that this present must have really meant something to Red.

Considering just how upset got last night, she couldn't fathom what could be inside and after slowly unwrapping the little box and opening its top, Leaf gasped as she saw what was inside.

"Oh…my…god….."

She could barely speak. Nestled inside the box was a very expensive looking heart-shaped locket, its gold plating shining brightly as it was exposed to the light.

Without saying a word, she carefully removed it from its casing, opening it to reveal a picture of her and Red from when they first moved into the new house.

"I know it can get a little lonely here when I'm not around." the dark-haired boy gently spoke to her, "So….I got you this so that you can keep me right beside you...and when you feel alone remember that I'm never too far away..."

Leaf was at a total loss for words. "Oh Red….." she whispered, unable to peel her eyes away from the picture.

"Why don't you….look what's written on the back."

Doing as Red suggested, Leaf slowly began to turn the locket around, her eyes glossing over the minute she saw what was there.

" _What does it say, young lady?_ " Mewtwo asked as all the Pokemon curiously gathered around as well.

"I-it says…" she could barely talk, "No matter how many roads I travel. No matter how many new faces I encounter. You'll always be the one I choose. Forever and ever."

"I….had that engraved." Red explained to the other Pokemon before turning to Mewtwo and noting, "That's why we spent so much time in that store."

" _I see….._ " the psychic Pokémon remarked, smirking as it gave Red a small nudge to the side, " _Well…I gotta give it to you on this one young man._ "

Hearing that, Red smiled as he turned to his brunette haired partner. "So…what do you think Leaf?" he asked, but was surprised when he saw her standing there with her head hung low, "Leaf?"

*Sniffle*

" _What's wrong young lady?_ " Mewtwo asked as she sniffled once again.

"Red…"Leaf muttered under her breath, "Do you….truly mean that?"

"H-huh?"

Her voice shook. "W-when you say I choose you forever and ever." she clarified to him, "Do you really mean that?"

Red's eyes darted back and forth, unsure what she was talking about. "W-well….yeah…..of course I do." he honestly replied, "What would make you think I wouldn't?"

Leaf's hand shook, locked it in a death grip around the locket, "It's just….last year I was told that was nothing more than a worthless piece of trash….that no one could ever care about someone like me…." she whimpered as tears began streaming down her face, "….and yet, here you nearly killed yourself…..just so you could give this to me…."

"I….I….just….."

Red's face stiffened as he watched her cry. Even after all they'd been through, in that small, dark, part of her heart, Leaf's past was still causing her doubt.

….doubt that….she was probably always going to have no matter how much love he showed her.

"Leaf…." Red spoke, sighing as he walked up to her, "Of course I went through all that for you."

Running his hand through her hair, he then took his finger and tipped her face up, watching as her big, wet eyes stared up at him. "I did it because…." he sighed as the words just rolled his tongue, "…I love you."

Leaf gasped. Unlike last night, there was no question whether or not, Red's near-death experience caused him to say those words or not. He fully meant it and Leaf could feel her heart skip a beat as he smiled at her, "Red…" she whispered back, "….I love you too."

Overcome with emotion, she threw her arms around him and wept into his chest, truly thankful that she had him in her life.

* * *

With that, the last present was finally given and now that everything had calmed down, the gang found themselves back in the living room, lazing about as they waited for dinner to be ready.

"Alright! The bird's currently cooking in the oven." Red stated as he eased back into the couch, "What else can we do to pass the time?"

"Hey! I got an idea!" Leaf suddenly perked up causing Red to confusingly look over at her.

"What's that?"

With a sneaky smile on her face, Leaf suddenly suggested. "Let's sing!"

"S-sing?!"

"Yeah! What's wrong with singing?"

Red nervously bit his lip, this was almost as bad as the time she asked him to dance with her, "N-nothing! It's just…." he lowered his head, "I'm not very much of a singer."

As if right on cue Red saw it, that classic wink he knew all too well….and when that wink appeared, it meant only one thing: The Great Shadow Thief was about to get her way.

"Neither am I, but that never stopped me!" Leaf humorously declared before grabbing Red's hand and springing to her feet with him in tow, "Come on! The Pokemon aren't going to judge how you sing!"

While all this was happening, all the Pokemon watched with delight as Red was dragged off against his will.

" _So….._ " Mewtwo muttered as it turned to the others, " _We're totally going to judge him right?_ "

In total unison, they all nodded causing Mewtwo to smile with glee.

"… _perfect!_ "

"Ooh! Can we sing Jingle Bells Leaf?" they heard Red call out, only to be met with Leaf giggling in response.

"Oh-HO! HO! HO! I got a much better song planned for us, sweetie!"

With that, Leaf turned on the radio and after handing Red a piece of paper with the lyrics on it, began to sing together. However….it wasn't exactly the kind of song Red was expecting.

* * *

"I simply must go…." Leaf slowly sang out.

"But, baby, it's cold outside." Red stammered in response, growing more and more embarrassed as the song went on.

"The answer is no."

"B-but, baby, its cold outside…."

Before Red knew what was happening, Leaf slowly began wrapping her arms around his as she sensually continued.

"Red…my sister will be suspicious."

"Your lips look delic-Leaf! What kind of song are we singing?!" he suddenly demanded only to feel her grip tighten even more as she began nuzzling her head against his arm.

"MMM…..come on….bring it home with me baby…."

"O-okay."

"Baby it's cooooold outside."

Slowly, the jazzy music faded into the background, leaving Leaf standing there, smiling with delight. "Oh Red that was so much fun!" she exclaimed as she hugged him tight.

Meanwhile, the dark-haired boy just stood there; sweat forming from his brow after singing such a song. "Whatever happened to singing the classics?" he muttered as Leaf crossed her arms in response.

"Oh Red! We can sing boring old Jingle Bells later!"

"Hey! I like Jingle bells!"

While all this was going on, all the Pokemon just stood there like statues, unsure of what to make of Leaf's song choice.

"… _.I don't know about you guys but I feel kind of strange after listening to that_ ," Mewtwo noted as he turned to the others, only to be met by Red and Leaf walking up to it.

"So you liked our singing huh?" Red noted causing Mewtwo's eyes to dart back and forth.

"Well….I-"

Before Mewtwo could even finish, the dark-haired boy suddenly grabbed its arm and pulled it forward.

"Good! Cause you're all helping us sing the next one!"

" _Wha-HEY!_ "

Giggling as she watched Mewtwo get dragged off, Leaf then turned to the others. "Come on everyone!" she urged while pushing Snorlax and Venasaur forward, "Let's sing together!"

Turning on the radio once again, Leaf gave everyone another piece of paper with lyrics. However, this choice would prove to be much more traditional than the last and as the music began to play, everyone smiled as they began to sing together.

* * *

"It's the most wonderful tiiiiiimmmmmeeeee! Of the yeeeeeaaaarrrrrrrr!" they all belted out as loud as they could, panting in relief as the song finally came to an end.

"That was a great job guys!" Leaf praised as everyone panted around her.

" _Ughh…I never thought I could hit those notes."_ Mewtwo huffed causing Red to chuckle in response.

"Hee! Hee! Well….our dinner should almost be finished….." the brunette haired girl revealed as they all caught their breaths, "I don't know of anything else we could do that would make this Christmas anymore complete. "

"Really?" Red curiously replied, "Cause I can't help but think we've forgotten something….."

Leaf scratched her head. They'd literally done every Christmassy thing she could think of.

"…what could we be forgettin-"

Before Leaf knew it, she was suddenly being shoved from behind, gasping as she looked behind to see her Pokemon pushing her forward, "Jigglypuff? Clefable? What are you-"

On the other side, Red gasped as well as Pikachu, Charizard, Venasaur and Blastoise began doing the same. "H-hey! What are you guys-"

Not stopping for a second, the Pokemon pushed the two trainers right up to one another, leaving only an inch of space between them.

"U-ummm…."

Catching a glimpse of something above them, Red and Leaf simultaneously looked up to see a small green plant suspended in the air above them.

Immediately, they both looked over to see Mewtwo standing there with its hand outstretched. " _You do realize that you owe me for this._ " it sassingly proclaimed in Red's mind as all the Pokemon gathered beside it, eagerly awaiting what was about to happen.

Slowly turning his eyes back to Leaf's, Red saw that she had the biggest mischievous grin on her face.

"You know what's supposed to happen when mistletoe is above you right Red?" she noted as she watched Red's face turn more flush by the second.

"Y-yeah I know."

With a sultry look on her face, Leaf leaned in even closer. "What? Don't you wanna kiss me?" she teased ,"You had no problem last night."

"Y-yeah but!" Red stammered as he nervously glanced around, "I-I didn't have an audience watching me last night.…."

"Well then…." Leaf whispered slowly wrapping her arms around his neck as she did, "I suppose we'll need to make it look good for them?"

Red blushed as he stared into her eyes. She looked so beautiful right now and especially on Christmas, he wasn't about to let her down. As such, he pulled her in close, running his hands through her hair as whispered sensually.

"I suppose…"

Completely caught off-guard, Leaf let out a small shriek of excitement as Red suddenly dipped her over and kissed her passionately.

It wasn't very often that Red was able to surprise her like that and his sudden romantic actions were met with a huge cry of approval from the pokemon as they all cheered loudly, happy that their last-minute Christmas surprise had worked out so well.

"You know….the song wasn't lying…" Red muttered as he momentarily parted his lips from hers, "You're lips ARE delicious."

"I…may have snuck a cookie in before starting." Leaf teasingly replied before kissing him once again.

* * *

Ecstatically watching from the sidelines, Pikachu paused as it looked over to see Mewtwo, covering its eyes.

"Pika! Pi?" it asked as the psychic Pokemon sniffled in response.

" _Sorry….I don't know what's going on…_ " it muttered while wiping its eyes, " _All of a sudden my ocular vision started fogging up…._ "

The tiny electrical Pokemon laughed, handing its new friend a tissue before returning its attention back to Red and Leaf.

* * *

"So…what did you think of your first Christmas Leaf?" Red asked as they parted lips once again, only to be met with Leaf rolling her eyes skyward in thought.

"Weeelllllllll…..aside from the stress….worry….and fact that you almost died on me….." Leaf pondered before looking him in the eyes and stating, "I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Christmas!"

The two smiled at one another and were just about to lock lips once again when…..

*DING*

A sound suddenly rang out from the kitchen, causing Leaf to perk up.

"Hey! That means the bird's all ready!" she exclaimed, quickly separating herself from Red as she turned to the Pokemon and declared, "Alright show's over folks! Let's go eat!"

No sooner was that said and Mewtwo immediately threw the mistletoe it was holding away. " _To hell with this human plant! Let's go!_ " it exclaimed as it and the other Pokemon made a B-line towards the kitchen with Red and Leaf slowly following behind hand in hand.

After all the stresses they'd endured, the day was finally coming to an end and even though it may not been the most conventional Christmas for the group that lived in the wooden house atop Mt. Silver, it would always be memorable.

….because it was their first.

The End

* * *

 **...and that's it folks!**

 **I really hope you enjoyed this little Christmas story. Honestly, this was the only chapter I didn't plan out from the beginning and I hope it turned out okay.**

 **Like I said at the beginning, I know I said I was retiring from writing, but I really did have the idea for this story in my head and I'm really glad that I ended up writing it.**

 **That being said...writing this story really reinforced why I retired in the first place. It was very hard psyching myself up to writing some days and even though I started writing this in August, I still didn't make my deadline.**

 **The truth is...its just hard to find the time to write anymore and I while I really did enjoy writing this at first, it gradually became harder and harder to get things out on time.**

 **As such, this will probably be my last story on Fanfic. The only other thing I may do in the future is remake the old story and if that eventually does happen one day, I will certainly let you all know.**

 **Lastly, for everyone who's followed me and whom I've met over my almost 4 years on this site, thank you so much for all your kind words, you've really made my time here memorable for me.**

 **As always, I wish everyone all the best in the new year and may you have many more in the years to come!**

 **For the last time, I wish you all the best :)**

 **Ciao**


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